


The Day We Met Again

by MsDorisDaisy



Series: The Days of Our Love [2]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Anxiety, F/F, Fluff, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-24 09:08:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 33,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7502520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsDorisDaisy/pseuds/MsDorisDaisy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The continuation of "The Day Hell Froze Over" picks up with nerdy!Lexa and popular!Clarke as they graduate from Arkadia High and traverse their last summer before heading off to University. Jake and Abby Griffin finally make an appearance, along with the return of our favorites (Anya, Octavia, Lincoln, Monty, Harper, Gustus).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to start out reminding you all that these little sprogs are only 17 years old, and they are both new to dating (Lexa has never dated, Clarke has only been out with Finn a few times) so their views on how relationships work/can work are somewhat limited. I will promise a happy ending eventually because, really, how else should it end for these two adorable beans? :)

“What do you mean _distant_ ?” Monty asked as he raised a solitary eyebrow.  
  
Lexa sighed and pulled a hand through her hair. She was sitting in her desk chair with one foot tucked tightly under her, and she was balancing the heel of her other against the soft rug atop her bedroom floor, swaying it anxiously from side to side. Narrations of various astronomers, NASA scientists, and crew hummed quietly in the background as the recorded live stream of the Nexus Rover launch played on Lexa's television.  
  
Clarke had surprised the brunette with a disc of the entire event after Monty had innocently mentioned to her that Lexa had originally been disappointed to miss the live stream due to the fact that it had shared the same night as their senior prom. Lexa remembered smiling, like _really_ smiling, when Clarke had presented her with the disc in the most adorably shy way possible and knew if it wasn't for the fact they were at school that Lexa would have actually–maybe–probably been so bold as to have given Clarke a kiss of thanks for the incredibly thoughtful gesture.  
  
The week following the prom had been, simply put, amazing. Lexa could set her watch to catching Clarke's gaze across the hallway in between every one of their classes, and sometimes they would find themselves at the other's lockers talking about an upcoming final, a funny movie one of them had seen, or just a simple check-in to see how the other was doing. It was almost like Lexa had finally made another friend besides Monty, and although she loved Monty and he undoubtedly was her very best friend, Lexa couldn't help but feel warm and tingly on the inside every time she thought about her budding friendship (or was it a relationship – Lexa wasn't sure) with Clarke Griffin.  
  
That was, until, only a few weeks before the end of the school year and the end of their high school careers in their entirety. The anticipation of seeing Clarke each morning, smiling at her from the other side of the hallway as she pushed her books into her locker, soon turned into anxiousness of whether Lexa would even catch a small glimpse of the blonde. Nothing paramount had happened within the hours overnight, but one particular Monday had made way for a new pattern of smaller greeting smiles, absolutely no chatting at one another's lockers between classes, and it almost seemed like they were avoiding each other. Except that Lexa knew she was doing no such thing. There was nothing more she wanted to do than spend time with Clarke, but with the sudden shift in dynamic between the two it only left Lexa guessing. And assuming the worst.  
  
“I don't know, Monty,” Lexa said with a sigh. “It’s like... after prom we were talking every day. It was great. Now all of a sudden, it’s like she doesn’t want to be around me.”  
  
“She’s avoiding you?” Monty asked as he pulled himself up Lexa’s bed to rest his back against her headboard.  
  
“No, not exactly,” Lexa replied after she had thought about the question for a few moments. “I mean, I still see her... she’s just... keeping her distance from me.”  
  
“Why don’t you just talk to her about it?” Monty suggested honestly. “Maybe something is wrong, and she just doesn’t know how to bring it up to you.”  
  
“Well, that’s comforting,” Lexa grumbled as she hunched lower in her chair.  
  
The last thing Lexa wanted Clarke to talk to her about was that she had regretted her confession the night of the prom. That was the only thing in her entire life that Lexa didn’t want to hear, yet it was the only thing Lexa could imagine would be the reasoning behind Clarke’s sudden distancing act around her. She was scared. Lexa was scared that Clarke was going to take back saying ‘I like you’ and end whatever it was they had before it had even started. She didn’t want that, but she felt powerless to do anything about it.  
  
“No, that’s not what I meant,” Monty told her as he shook his head lightly. “I’m not implying that the ‘something wrong’ has something to do with you and her. Maybe she’s... I don’t know... having a fight with her parents or something? Or maybe she is worried about a final grade in one of her classes? You always assume the worst, Lex, especially when it comes to Clarke but you need to just stop doing that.”  
  
“Just stop doing that?” Lexa repeated dryly. “Easier said than done.”  
  
“Why?” Monty prodded. “You never seem to assume the worst with me.”  
  
“That’s different,” Lexa immediately responded.  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Because–” Lexa began before cutting herself off with a loud sigh. “Because you’re my best friend, so I don’t _have_ to assume the worst with you.”  
  
“Look all I’m saying is that if you stop talking to her, you’re never going to get close to her,” Monty offered gently. “Isn’t that what you want? To get closer to her?”  
  
Monty was right. Hell, Monty was always right. It seemed to Lexa that ever since he and Harper had officially started dating that he had magically become some sort of relationship wizard, asking the best questions and giving the greatest advice. She felt herself nod at her best friend’s last prompt and started to realize that maybe this time it would be up to _her_ to approach Clarke, to break free from her comfort zone, and ask her what was wrong and how she could fix it.  
  
“I can’t believe the rover lost two of its solar arrays during the descent through Mars’s atmosphere,” Monty said as his attention turned back to the TV screen. “Can you imagine how much those things cost?”  
  
“Considering the rover itself cost a few hundred million dollars,” Lexa started, “I’m guessing the solar arrays cost quite a bit.”  
  
“I thought I read that the Lexus Rover cost like two _billion_ ,” Monty stated with a furrowed brow.  
  
“Two billion for the cost of the rover parts _and_ the labor _and_ the launch itself,” Lexa explained, “and spread out over the last, what, eight years they’ve been developing this... it’s really not that much money.”  
  
“I guess,” Monty agreed slowly, “and I suppose if you take into consideration how many people are putting money into the space program each year, it probably equals out to a pretty tiny amount per capita.”  
  
“It really does,” Lexa confirmed with a nod. “I mean, just think if the contributions to the space program were upped a few dollars how many more places we could explore.”  
  
“You’re walking a fine line with that statement, Lexa,” Gustus chimed in from the hallway as he stepped in front of his daughter’s open bedroom door.  
  
“Meaning?” Lexa wondered aloud.  
  
“While it’s great in theory to have everyone in the country pay just a few dollars more per year towards the space program, what would actually be happening would be taxes getting raised,” Gustus explained.  
  
“That’s true,” Monty replied with a nod. “I always hear my parents complaining about their taxes.”  
  
“Along with the rest of us,” Gustus said with a chuckle.  
  
“I wish more people knew how important the space program is for the advancement of our society,” Lexa added. “If they did, maybe more people would donate above and beyond what is required of them.”  
  
“Maybe,” Gustus replied honestly, and the three fell into a comfortable silence for a few long moments.  
  
“Is there a reason you came up here?” Lexa asked her father, who was now just hovering in the doorway.  
  
“Other than the fact that this is my house, and I’m allowed to go wherever I want?” Gustus asked as he quirked an eyebrow in his daughter’s direction.  
  
Lexa just rolled her eyes and waited for him to continue.  
  
“I wanted to know if Monty is staying for dinner,” Gustus continued as he turned his gaze towards the young man. “I’m making my famous chicken stir fry.”  
  
“Oh, I’m there,” Monty replied immediately as he reached for his phone, “I’ll text my mom to let her know.”  
  
“Alright,” Gustus said with a small smile before looking back at Lexa, “and keep your schedule open next weekend.”  
  
“Why?” Lexa asked as she flicked her eyes over to the television.  
  
“Anya’s graduation ceremony is on Friday, which we’re all attending,” Gustus explained, “and then we’re have a few people over to the house on Saturday to celebrate.”  
  
Lexa just nodded in understanding but kept her eyes trained on the rover making its first roll against the dusty surface of Mars to begin its search for various materials, minerals, and elements hidden in the planet’s expansive terrain.  
  
“You’re welcome to come over on Saturday, Monty,” Gustus said, “and you can bring your girlfriend too.”  
  
“Thanks, Mr. Woods,” Monty replied as he looked up from his phone, “I’ll ask her if she has plans.”  
  
“Lexa, maybe you want to invite Clarke?” Gustus asked his daughter, unaware of the rather strange situation that had befallen the two girls over the last week.  
  
“I, uh...” Lexa stuttered as she looked up at her father, “I–I don’t know if she will be able to come.”  
  
“That’s why you invite her, dear,” Gustus teased his flustered daughter. “If she can’t come, she’ll decline your invitation. It’s better for her to know she is welcome though, right?”  
  
“Right,” Lexa replied quietly, “sure.”  
  
“Dinner should be ready in about an hour,” Gustus said as he turned around to head back down to the kitchen.  
  
“Lexa,” Monty said open-endedly.  
  
“Monty,” Lexa replied with a look of warning in her eyes.  
  
“It’s a perfect opportunity,” he continued, disregarding his best friend’s silent request.  
  
“Monty–”  
  
“Invite her,” Monty urged, “because no matter what she says, it’ll just serve as an easy way to start up a conversation that you two definitely need to have.”  
  
“It’s not like we _don't talk_ ,” Lexa argued, “we just... don’t talk... as much.”  
  
“Right,” Monty agreed, “which is why you need to figure out what’s going on and get back to normal.”  
  
_Normal? What even is normal?_  
  
Lexa let a small sigh slip past her lips as she toyed with the bottom hem of her shirt. She knew that, yet again, Monty was right and a decent talk between her and Clarke was all that was needed to get things back to how they were. At least, that’s what Lexa hoped.

* * *

  
“Alright, listen up!” Mr. Kane bellowed over the chattering students as the hour neared its end. “I know it’s Friday and I know more importantly that there’s only a few weeks of school left, but there’s still a final to be taken which will count for thirty percent of your grade.”  
  
Lexa barely registered the words from her favorite teacher as she carelessly swiped her pencil against the corner of her notebook, scribbling random patterns of lead against the bright white paper. Her own silent thoughts had consumed her mind, and the meaningless doodling was all she could do to keep herself from running out of the classroom and away from the building she knew Clarke was. The entire week had crept along at a snail’s pace while Lexa successfully managed to put so much pressure on herself that she was popping aspirin for her daily stress headaches like they were candy.  
  
She knew she had to talk to Clarke, she knew she should just invite her over for Anya’s graduation party so that they _could_ talk. She knew. But even more than that, Lexa just wanted to be around Clarke again. She wanted to spend time with her, she wanted to be close to her, she wanted to hold her hand and kiss her lips and hug her tight. She wanted.  
  
Unfortunately knowing and wanting seemed to be a night and day contrast to actually doing, something that Lexa wasn’t too practiced in.  
  
“So be sure to have _at least_ five pages of your essay written by Monday,” Mr. Kane continued on from wherever he had left off, his previous instructions having been lost by Lexa completely. “You’re dismissed.”  
  
Lexa quickly flipped her notebook closed and tossed her pencil into her backpack, not caring where it landed and if she would even be able to find it again. She clutched her textbook to her chest and shrugged one strap of her bag over her shoulder before making her way out of the classroom. She barely caught Octavia’s gaze as she passed the other girl and raised her left hand to slide her glasses up her nose, a move that provided her with an excuse to shield her face to avoid awkward eye contact with the girl whose best friend was practically the only thing occupying Lexa’s mind lately.  
  
As she rounded the corner and started down a hallway she didn’t need to take in order to get to her next class, Lexa began breathing just the tiniest bit faster the closer she drew to the classroom she knew Clarke would be heading into in just a few short moments. Her nerves were telling her it was now or never, and she took a relaxed stance and leaned her back against the lockers just beside the classroom doorway and searched the crowd hesitantly for the sight of her favorite blonde hair to come into view.  
  
Clarke was surprised at the intensity of fear that began running through her body the moment she noticed Lexa standing outside of her classroom, and she felt a strong nudge from Octavia to keep her momentum going after she had slowed her pace considerably. Her heart weighed heavily in her chest, but she continued to close the distance steadily until she was just a couple of feet away from the brunette. Octavia flashed Lexa a polite smile and continued down the hallway but not before turning her head back and giving Clarke an urging look.  
  
“Hi,” Lexa quietly greeted as she stood up straight and disconnected herself from the lockers.  
  
“Hey,” Clarke replied just as quietly while she fiddled with the bottom hem of her shirt.  
  
“I, um...” Lexa began as her hands started to tremble, “we’re having a graduation party for my sister tomorrow... and I... thought I’d ask you if you’d like to come.”  
  
“I,” Clarke hesitated, immediately regretting the next sentence that fell from her lips, “I’m busy that day.”  
  
Clarke felt her heart jump into her throat at her own words, and she could honestly say that she had never before in her entire life felt so bad about declining an invitation than she had at that very moment. But she wasn’t ready. She wasn’t ready to tell her.  
  
“Okay,” Lexa replied quickly but quietly as she let her eyes drop to the floor.  
  
“I’m sorry,” Clarke whispered, at which Lexa’s gaze snapped up to meet blue eyes.  
  
“Don’t be,” Lexa replied as her expression remained calm only for her voice to betray all pretense of the emotion. “I’ll just... see you later then.”  
  
Clarke opened her mouth to speak but couldn’t manage to get a single word out before Lexa had dashed from her spot and was halfway down the hallway in a matter of seconds. A heavy sigh fell from Clarke’s mouth as she moved a hand up to her hair and tucked away a few pieces before hearing her best friend’s voice just a few feet away.  
  
“Clarke!” Octavia exclaimed in a voice just above a whisper as she tried to catch the blonde’s attention before she walked into her classroom. “What the hell?”  
  
“What the hell, what?” Clarke questioned, not in the mood for games.  
  
“What the hell was that? You don’t have plans,” Octavia asked quickly. “And why didn't you tell her?”  
  
“How could you even hear that from where you were apparently hiding?” Clarke huffed in annoyance.  
  
“Clarke, you have _got_ to tell her,” Octavia pleaded with her best friend. “She is probably already thinking the worst.”  
  
“I know,” Clarke agreed guiltily, “I just don't know how to tell her. How do I tell her? I like you but I don’t want to date you?”  
  
“Uh no, that’s exactly how you _don't_ want to tell her,” Octavia replied as she rolled her eyes, “plus that’s not true, is it?”  
  
“I’m leaving in a month, O,” Clarke replied quickly.  
  
“You don’t have to remind me every five seconds,” Octavia snapped. “It’s bad enough that I’m going to have to spend the entire summer without you.”  
  
“You have Lincoln,” Clarke reminded her, “she has no one.”  
  
“She has Monty,” Octavia offered with a shrug, “and you haven’t answered my question.”  
  
“Of course I want to date her, O,” Clarke told her, “I just don’t want to start something for a month and then have to leave for the entire summer and make her wait for me.”  
  
“You know she would do it in a heartbeat,” Octavia said.  
  
Clarke’s expression faltered just a fraction as her chest fluttered with the realization that even Octavia knew Lexa would do anything for her, and that fact made her feel excited and guilty all at the same time. She loved that Lexa seemed to be such a devoted friend, that she cared for Clarke so deeply and would do anything she could to keep their relationship intact, but at the same time Clarke couldn’t help but feel guilty at the suggestion of asking her to wait all summer for her. It would be taking advantage, Clarke knew it, and she wasn’t about to put Lexa in that position.  
  
“I’m not going to ask her to do that,” Clarke stated firmly.  
  
“Well, whatever you decide to tell her you need to do it soon,” Octavia said, “I’ve never seen her look so mopey before.”  
  
Clarke’s heart broke as she tried to imagine how Lexa must be feeling. For a girl who kept basically to herself, minus her relationships with a best friend and an older sister, Lexa had undoubtedly overcome huge personal hurdles along the way leading up to the night of prom and an even bigger one when she had let her guard down to reciprocate the acknowledgment of her feelings towards Clarke. They had confessed to one another that they liked each other, something Clarke never pictured Lexa saying to her, and she knew how much trust Lexa had given up to her in that very moment.  
  
“Me either,” Clarke agreed with a sigh.  
  
She had indeed noticed Lexa’s continual sullenness and for a girl who often looked sullen in normal behavior, Clarke knew that was quite telling.

* * *

  
“Congratulations, Anya,” Lexa said through a genuine smile as she hugged her older sister close.  
  
“Thanks, kid,” Anya replied as she gave Lexa’s shoulder a squeeze before pulling away.  
  
Lexa took a few moments to look around the crowded amphitheater at the hoard of Polis University graduates being hugged by their friends, by their family, by each other and couldn’t help but imagine herself there in the same position just a short four years into the future. She had received her acceptance letter in the mail not even two weeks prior and besides her strained thoughts on Clarke and whatever it was that was happening or not happening between them, Lexa couldn’t help but think about how much her life was going to change once she started her University career after the summer was over.  
  
“Have you seen Tris?” Anya asked as she scanned the crowd for her friend.  
  
Lexa searched too but after only meeting her a few times over the past several years, she wasn’t altogether sure she would even be able to pull her out of the sea of faces surrounding them. Gustus couldn’t seem to pull his gaze away from his eldest daughter as he continued to smile brightly at her, outwardly proud of her latest accomplishment and undoubtedly eager to share every detail with all of the people due at the celebration party the following day.  
  
“Anya!” Tris called loudly enough for both Anya and Lexa to turn their heads toward the girl.  
  
“Hey, beesh,” Anya greeted as she wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Can you believe this?”  
  
“You know,” Tris started with a mischievous glimmer in her eyes, “I can believe that _I'm_ here in this cap and gown, but I never thought you’d make it to be honest.”  
  
“Oh, shut up,” Anya snapped playfully at her friend’s joke.  
  
Lexa smirked at the exchange, feeling quite tickled as she witnessed her sister getting a hard time from someone. It was usually Anya who was giving the hard time, and seeing her on the receiving end was rather amusing for Lexa.  
  
“I hope this one’s worth more of her brain weight than you are,” Tris continued to poke fun of her friend as she compared her to Lexa. “No offense, Mr. Woods.”  
  
“Non taken, I suppose,” Gustus replied with a chuckle.  
  
“Gee, thanks,” Anya said to her father as she rolled her eyes.  
  
“You need to hang around more often,” Lexa chanced a response to Tris, who looked back at her with a comically wide smile.  
  
“Watch it,” Anya warned her younger sister with a strong finger pointed towards her, “or I won’t invite you along for pizza tonight like I’d planned to.”  
  
Lexa rolled her eyes defiantly but was inwardly giddy about the possibility of hanging out with her older sister and her friend for the night. She was as close as any with her sister, but Lexa hadn’t spent much time at all with her friends. Plus, the thought of hanging out with Tris who obviously had a fun time pushing Anya’s buttons excited Lexa to no end, and she willed herself to not jinx her chance to tag along and join in on the button-pushing. It’s what sisters did best after all.  
  
“Just make sure she’s home by midnight,” Gustus told Anya as he reached into his pocket to retrieve his wallet.  
  
“What?” Lexa protested with a huff. “You’re always telling me to stay out _past_ midnight.”  
  
“That’s when you aren’t with Anya and her friends,” Gustus told the young brunette before switching his attention over to Tris, “and with this one along, there’s no telling what kind of trouble you’re about to get into.”  
  
“Trouble? Me?” Tris asked with a playful smirk. “Nonsense.”  
  
“Don’t worry, Dad,” Anya started as she snatched the bills being handed over to her, “I’ll be sure to bring her back in one piece by midnight.”  
  
“I'm so proud of you,” Gustus whispered in his daughter's ear as he pulled her into a tight embrace.  
  
“I know,” Anya replied through a smile as she hugged him back.  
  
“We better go if we want to make happy hour,” Tris told Anya before shifting her gaze onto Gustus, “at the pizza place... not that we'll be drinking or anything...”  
  
Gustus narrowed his eyes and shot Anya a look from under his furrowed brow, and she seemed to know immediately what he was conveying without using any of his words. After a few assurances that she wasn't, under any circumstances, getting drunk or letting Lexa drink, the three girls made their way out of the crowded theater and into the parking lot to pile into Anya's car before heading out to the city's favorite pizza place for a celebratory slice and perhaps a beer or two.  
  
The drive across town went by relatively quickly as Lexa found herself easily lost in her thoughts about Clarke when Anya and Tris were busy talking and joking with each other in the front seats of the car. Lexa couldn't help but feel her heart ache a few times as she replayed Clarke's rejection of her offer to spend time together at Anya's graduation celebration the following day, but she just kept shaking her head and reminding herself that Clarke had said she was already busy. Maybe she _was_ actually busy. Lexa wouldn't have known since she barely gave Clarke enough time to decline her offer before she was practically running away.  
  
“What's your deal?” Anya asked as she looked into the rear view mirror at her younger sister in the back seat.  
  
“Huh?” Lexa asked, thoroughly confused at the question.  
  
“That's like the fourth time you've sighed since getting in the car,” Anya explained, “so what's your deal?”  
  
“Nothing,” Lexa lied as she offered an unconvincingly nonchalant shrug of her shoulder.  
  
“Bullshit,” Anya retorted.  
  
“Do you have someone on your mind who doesn't have their mind on you?” Tris asked.  
  
Anya swatted the back of her hand against her friend's shoulder sharply, which caused Tris to gasp in surprise.  
  
“What?” She asked Anya in a squeaky voice.  
  
“Show a little sensitivity, jackass,” Anya muttered under her breath, knowing that what Tris had asked might very well be the cause of her younger sister's distress.  
  
Tris just clicked her tongue against her teeth in disapproval and rubbed her sore shoulder for a few moments before Lexa quietly broke the silence.  
  
“The answer is yes, by the way,” she clarified.  
  
Tris and Anya shared a look before small expressions of guilt flashed across both of their faces, and they reverted back to idle chit chat for the rest of the car ride. Lexa was almost shocked at the number of cars outside the tiny restaurant when they finally pulled into the parking lot, but the heavenly aroma of freshly baked pizza crust made her forget all about the fact that she was about to be thrust into the middle of a loud and crowded dining area that was barely large enough to properly seat twenty people or so. Instead she knew she'd find about fifty people crammed around red and white checkered table clothes and sitting in mismatched wooden chairs, chowing down on whatever the special was that night.  
  
_I hope it's Hawaiian._  
  
“Excellent timing, ladies,” the host greeted as he grabbed for three menus, “a party of two just left if you don't mind getting cozy at their table.”  
  
“Not at all,” Anya replied quickly, knowing how long they might have to wait for a larger table.  
  
Lexa rolled her eyes and followed the group reluctantly, aware of the wait but disappointed to be scrunched between her sister and her friend at a tiny table. It wasn't that Lexa had to have her space, it was just that she preferred not to touch other people all the time. Okay, so she had to have her space. She caught another sigh just as it was about to tumble past her lips and instead took a deep breath and willed herself to relax and enjoy her night. It wasn't often that she got to spend time with her sister's friends which she wasn't quite sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Not yet at least.  
  
“I don't bite,” Tris told Lexa with a wink, “unless that's something you're into.”  
  
Anya delivered a swift kick to her friend's shin under the table and leveled her with a deathly serious glare.  
  
“Don't even _think_ about hitting on my little sister,” Anya snapped as she pointed a warning finger towards her smirking friend.  
  
“Chill out, An,” Tris said as she rolled her eyes dramatically, “apparently your sister's hung up on someone already, remember?”  
  
Lexa shifted uncomfortably in her small wooden chair and looked down at her menu.  
  
“So, spill it,” Tris coaxed as she leaned toward the quiet brunette, “who is this mystery person who has you all hot and bothered?”  
  
Anya bit back a smirk and lowered her gaze to her own menu, fully intending on letting Lexa fend for herself for a while. When an answer wasn't given, Anya turned her eyes up and looked over at Lexa before speaking reassuringly.  
  
“She's cool,” Anya told her sister as she nodded over at Tris, “she puts up a jackass front, but she's really just a big ugly teddy bear.”  
  
Tris glared over at Anya and flipped her middle finger at her friend which earned a low chuckle from the other side of the table. Lexa narrowed her eyes at the exchange and finally spoke up, directing her words to both of them.  
  
“I'm not all hot and bothered,” she said harshly.  
  
“She's got a thing for this girl, Clarke,” Anya told Tris, completely disregarding her sister's small huff of annoyance, “they went to the prom together.”  
  
“Ooh, Clarke and Lexa sitting in a tree...”  
  
“Wait!” Anya suddenly exclaimed with a gasp as she gripped her sister's arm tightly. “You never told me what happened after the prom!”  
  
“You never asked,” Lexa said with a shrug as she kept her gaze trained down on her menu.  
  
“Okay, guilt trip received,” Anya acknowledged as she withdrew her hand.  
  
“So did you two kiss or what?” Tris asked inquisitively.  
  
Lexa looked over at the girl and just scrunched her eyebrows, unsure of whether she wanted to be having this conversation with someone she barely knew. Anya reassured her again that Tris was 'cool' and wouldn't speak a breath of what she heard to anyone outside their tiny table. Before Lexa could decide whether to respond, their waiter came rushing over to their table and asked for their drink orders. They put them in quickly, knowing that the man was in a hurry to get to all of the other tables in his overcrowded section, and resumed their conversation as if nothing had interrupted them.  
  
“So?” Anya probed. “Kiss?”  
  
“We kissed,” Lexa finally admitted through a sigh as she picked at the corner of the laminate covering her menu.  
  
“Tongue?” Tris asked as she nudged Lexa's side with her elbow.  
  
“No,” Lexa replied quickly with a slightly shocked look on her face.  
  
The girl was nothing if not bold.  
  
“Was it everything you thought it would be?” Anya teased.  
  
“Wait a minute,” Tris interjected slowly before leaning much too far over into Lexa's space, “was this your _first_ kiss?”  
  
Lexa just shrugged in response, suddenly feeling quite shy and a bit embarrassed that her love life was being discussed like it was the most interesting topic ever spoken about. Tris let out something of a squeal of delight and proceeded to ask a litany of other questions that Lexa never thought would ever be asked of her, but she continued to sit in silence and simply avoid eye contact. She pushed her glasses up her nose and flicked a 'help me' look over at Anya which earned her a smirk from the blonde before she finally spoke up.  
  
“Let her breathe, Tris,” Anya told her friend. “If you keep pumping her for information, she'll turn into a brick wall.”  
  
Lexa was internally thanking her sister for finally speaking up and felt a sense of relief wash over her as they all turned their attention to their menus for a short time before the waiter returned with their drinks and took their orders. The crisp snap of carbonation against Lexa's tongue was refreshing and exactly what she needed to help clear her mind enough to continue on with her night sandwiched snugly between two people who she knew were dying to hear every last detail of her kiss with Clarke on the night of prom. She just hoped they wouldn't ask about the night at the lake; Lexa _knew_ she wouldn't be able to stop herself from blushing about that.  
  
As her thoughts carried her away as they so easily did, she let her eyes wander as well and suddenly found herself focused on the sight of a familiar head of shaggy brown hair leaning in close to another familiar head of curly blonde hair. Her heart jumped in her chest as she watched Finn pull a hand through his hair and flash an annoyingly charming smirk over the table to Clarke who looked to be distracted by whatever she was holding in her lap. Lexa figured it was her phone, but Clarke's back was towards her so she couldn't be sure.  
  
“So, Lexa,” Tris said loudly as she tried to break the brunette from her fascination with the other side of the restaurant, “are you headed to Polis U next year?”  
  
“Um, yeah,” Lexa answered as her gaze remained on Finn for a few seconds before she looked over at Tris.  
  
“What are you going to study?” She followed up with another question.  
  
“I'm not sure,” Lexa replied honestly. “Astrophysics maybe.”  
  
“Holy shit!” Tris exclaimed as her eyes flew open and landed over on Anya. “You weren't kidding when you told me she was smart!”  
  
Lexa felt a small smirk crawl onto her lips as she looked over at Anya who was glaring at her friend's little confession. She had always been proud of Lexa's intelligence and her educational successes, but Anya wasn't one to inflate her sister's ego if she could help it. Not that Lexa's ego wouldn't do well with a little inflating here and there, it just wasn't something siblings often did after all. Anya just shrugged casually when she caught Lexa's amused gaze and tried to move the conversation along.  
  
By the time their pizza had come, Lexa was feeling slightly more at ease with the company at her own table but slightly more distressed watching the table of her peers at the far side of the restaurant. Whatever Clarke was so intently concentrated on had been removed from her lap, at least temporarily, and she munched contentedly on her slice of pizza while chatting ever so often with her friends. Lexa finally noticed that Octavia and Lincoln were sitting among the group, although they were down a few chairs from where Clarke and Finn were.  
  
She watched on as Finn continued to do what Lexa assumed was flirt but couldn't help the expression of disgust that twisted her face while she imagined Clarke having to listen to his clumsy come-ons being thrown at her through mouthfuls of cheesy pizza. She knew by his expression that he probably thought he was being cute or charming or cool in some way, but Lexa just saw a cocky and arrogant teenage boy who probably only had one thing, or two things by the way his gaze would flutter down to Clarke's chest every so often, on his mind.  
  
Why wasn't she pushing him away? Why wasn't she telling him to stop? Was this really what she wanted? Lexa's mind swirled around dozens of unanswered questions, each one becoming increasingly more puzzling than the next as she thought about the tender moment she'd had with Clarke at the prom a few weeks prior. Clarke had all but threatened to throw their drinks in Finn's face and followed that up with an amazing kiss and a declaration of her feelings towards the brunette, so the thought that the reason Clarke had been distancing herself had Lexa feeling more hurt and confused by the second. Just as her eyes had made it back over towards Clarke after having been staring at her own half-eaten pizza, Lexa felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.  
  
**MsGriffster: I might be done earlier than I thought tomorrow... is the invitation to come to your sister's grad party still open?**  
  
Lexa's breath caught in her throat as she read the text over and over and over again. Her initial feeling was that of pure delight, suddenly thrilled at the possibility of seeing Clarke for an extended period of time outside of the confines of school. But all too soon, Lexa was letting the familiar waves of insecurity wash over her as she wondered why Clarke had so suddenly changed her mind. She glanced back up at Clarke to see her hunched over the table and staring at her lit phone sitting just in front of her, and Lexa couldn't help but grin internally at the fact that Clarke was completely ignoring Finn in favor of watching her phone as if it had hypnotized her. So before she could worry herself into a stupor, Lexa typed out a quick response and hit send just before looking up to see Clarke flick her fingers over her screen to read the incoming message.  
  
**Lexa Woods: Of course. The party is from 12-5pm. Feel free to come whenever you can.**  
  
Lexa raised her gaze just in time to see Clarke lock the screen on her phone and slip it into the back pocket of her jeans. A small smile graced the blonde's lips as she turned her head to the side and buried her chin into her shoulder, a move that Lexa could only describe as adorably shy, and Lexa noticed herself smiling faintly in response. She had already lost herself in another round of burning questions before feeling a pointed tap on her right shoulder.  
  
“Earth to Lex!” Anya said as she waved her hand in front of Lexa's face.  
  
“What?” Lexa mumbled as she shoved Anya's hand out of her space.  
  
“You've been silent for like the last ten minutes,” Anya explained. “I thought you were sleeping with your eyes open or something.”  
  
“Ah, yes,” Tris chimed in with a slow nod, “a tricky yet very useful talent during those infamous six hour lectures you won't be able to avoid in your University career.”  
  
“Thankfully I've already mastered the skill from all the practice this one so graciously gives me,” Lexa quipped as she thrust a thumb in Anya's direction.  
  
“You little...” Anya growled but trailed off only to deliver a solid punch to Lexa's shoulder.  
  
The hit was jarring, but Lexa just giggled along with Tris and managed to let her mind wander just long enough not to obsess over Clarke's presence not fifty feet away from her. It didn't hurt that Lexa witnessed Clarke finally shove Finn away from her the moment his face got just a bit too close to hers, and Lexa found herself smiling with anticipation of being able to see Clarke up close and personal the following day.

* * *

  
How she had managed to get though her entire dinner and leave the tiny pizza place without noticing Lexa and her two dinner companions sitting just tables away at the very same establishment was a complete mystery, but Clarke was too wrapped up in the excitement and utter panic she'd been feeling ever since he had read Lexa's response to her text message.  
  
**Lexa Woods: Of course. The party is from 12-5pm. Feel free to come whenever you can.**  
  
The morning had crept up on her like a stealthy ninja, silently stalking the night and cutting her dreams short before running off with them and leaving a drowsy Clarke Griffin behind. Saturdays were sacred to high schoolers. It was one of the only days of the week that they could sleep in, not worried about missing their first class period or holding up their Sunday lunches with their families. That particular Saturday was also the perfect day for an excuse for Clarke to sleep away as long as she possibly could as it would afford her a little less time worrying about the conversation she knew she had to have with Lexa later that evening.  
  
Without any extra effort of showering or changing out of her sleep clothes, Clarke rolled herself out of bed and shuffled over to her easel which was holding her latest painting she'd started in order to add to her portfolio. Polis University was a remarkable school, offering both science and art degrees that were rivaled throughout the country, but it was also one of the most difficult Universities to excel in as an obvious trade-off. One of the conditions of every first year student accepted directly into the prestigious art program was to provide the dean of the department with a completed art portfolio, made up of fifteen new pieces from those included in the portfolio used to secure admission, within the first week of the beginning of classes.  
  
Inspiration was something that had been flowing steadily from Clarke over the last several months, but even she would admit that creating fifteen (more like twenty, just to be on the safe side) new pieces of quality art before she left for the summer was extremely difficult. Between preparing for her senior finals and dealing with the uncertainty of her relationship with Lexa, Clarke was burning herself at both ends trying to get her artwork finished and keep her mind and heart calm enough to keep her sane for the next month or so.  
  
“Clarke?”  
  
“Yeah?” Clarke called out in response to her mother's voice from downstairs.  
  
“You never made it down for breakfast, and it's lunchtime already.”  
  
_Shit. Seriously?_  
  
Clarke leaned around her canvas to take a quick peek at the clock on her wall and nearly choked when she noticed nearly four hours had passed from the time she had woken up. As if on cue, her stomach started to grumble with warnings of hunger and Clarke opened her mouth quickly to respond.  
  
“Sorry, I spaced when I started working on this last painting,” Clarke said in a voice loud enough for her mother to hear. “I'll be down in like five minutes to eat.”  
  
She heard nothing from her mother in response but figured she had made her way into the kitchen to put together a sandwich for Clarke regardless. It wasn't often that her mother was home on a Saturday, with her busy schedule of surgeries at the hospital and all, and Clarke almost felt guilty that she wasn't planning on spending any more time than necessary with her that day. It wasn't that she didn't want to, but Clarke knew she needed to focus on her paintings before her own deadline came. Plus it wasn't like she wouldn't be spending her entire summer with her parents anyways.  
  
“Thanks, Mom,” Clarke said with a smile as soon as she walked into the kitchen to see a sandwich on a small plate resting on the dining table next to a tall glass of milk.  
  
“No problem, sweetie,” Abby replied before pecking a quick kiss on top of Clarke's head. “How is the latest painting coming along?”  
  
“Good,” Clarke said through a mouthful of ham and wheat bread. “I should have it done in the next few hours.”  
  
“How many more do you have to go?” Abby asked as she rested her hip against the edge of the counter.  
  
“About five,” Clarke answered with a shrug, “more if I have time.”  
  
“Don't run yourself ragged, Clarke,” Abby warned her daughter gently. “They won't kick you out of the program for completing fifteen pieces.”  
  
“Fifteen pieces _minimum_ ,” Clarke clarified as she reached for the glass of milk next to her plate. “I don't want to get the reputation for only doing the minimum, Mom.”  
  
“Alright,” Abby relented and pushed herself from the counter, “just remember to take care of yourself... and do things like eat... and bathe.”  
  
Clarke tilted her head and gave her mother an unamused glare before taking another large bite of her sandwich with a 'look, I'm eating' expression on her face. Abby just shook her head in response and reached for the sponge by the sink before wetting it and swiping a few passes across the counter top where crumbs lingered from when she had put Clarke's lunch together.  
  
“So you made Clarke a sandwich and not me?” Jake asked as he walked into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around Abby's waist from behind. “Here I thought I was your favorite.”  
  
Clarke's shoulders jumped with a small laugh as she took another bite of her sandwich.  
  
“And I thought you'd know by now that Clarke is my favorite,” Abby teased as she leaned her head to the side while Jake began placing small kisses along her neck. “Always has been, always will be.”  
  
“Is that so?” Jake asked as he raised a solitary eyebrow before turning his wife around and lowering his lips to hers.  
  
Clarke flashed an expression of mild disgust before grabbing her plate and glass and standing up from her spot at the table, not caring about the loud scuffing sound the chair made when its legs rubbed against the solid tile floors. She started walking through the kitchen towards the staircase, feeling desperate to create distance from her sappy parents kissing against the counter.  
  
“Just you wait, Clarke,” Jake said as he continued holding Abby close, “once you find someone you love as much as I love your mother, you won't be able to stop kissing them either.”  
  
“Bring your dishes back down when you're done with them,” Abby directed before bringing Jake back to her lips for another kiss.  
  
Clarke sighed as she made her way up the stairs and couldn't help but let her mind wander to thoughts of Lexa. The kiss they had shared on the night of the prom was everything she thought it would be and more. It was tender, and Lexa tasted like mint and fruit punch. She remembered how their lips had melted into each other's after a second and how incredible it felt when Lexa had let out a deep breath she'd been holding as they sunk into the kiss.  
  
She wished it would have lasted for longer than it had, she wished they would have taken the time to move their lips against one another's in a gentle dance that Clarke had been imagining for so long leading up to that night, but she knew Lexa wouldn't have been ready for that. Clarke didn't even know if she would have been ready for that either, but the thought of it hadn't left her mind since the night she'd felt Lexa's mouth against her own.  
  
As the day progressed, Clarke became increasingly nervous as she thought about the discussion she would be forcing herself to have with Lexa once she finished her painting and headed over to Anya's graduation party. She felt torn, wanting to just forget about her parents' summer plans for her and spend the next three months with Lexa but at the same time wanting nothing more than to take advantage of the incredible gift her parents had offered to her. She sighed heavily and checked the time before putting down her paintbrush and heading into her bathroom.  
  
A shower and light covering of makeup later, Clarke stood in front of her closet dressed only in her underclothes as she thumbed through everything hanging up before heading back over to her dresser to pull out a simple pair of light blue jean shorts and a white tank top. She shrugged both of the clothing items on and topped her look with a thin tan hoodie that had a zipper all the way down the front and left it hanging open, bunching the sleeves up to her elbows and slipping on a pair of flipflops. She grabbed her cell phone and the leftover dishes from her lunch and headed downstairs.  
  
“Done with your painting?” Jake asked from the front garden as he trimmed a few small branches back on a flowering bush.  
  
“Yep,” Clarke replied with a smile as she walked over towards her truck, “no peeking though.”  
  
“Never,” Jake replied with a smile of his own. “Where are you headed?”  
  
“I'm going over to Lexa's for a while,” Clarke told him as she slowed her step slightly. “Her sister just graduated from University, so they're throwing her a little party. Lexa invited me to come over.”  
  
“Sounds good, sweetie,” Jake said before turning his attention back to his landscaping work. “Have fun and say 'hi' to Lexa for me.”  
  
“Will do,” Clarke replied before quickly hopping up into her truck.  
  
She turned the ignition and backed out of the driveway as her heart began to hammer in her chest.  
  
_Here we go._

* * *

  
“Are you sure you don't want to come bowling with us, Lexa?” Harper asked as she slipped her hand into Monty's while they all made their way through the backyard and out towards the front of Lexa's house.  
  
“No, I should stay,” Lexa replied hesitantly.  
  
“You can ask Clarke to come too,” Monty offered, knowing that Clarke had mentioned to Lexa that she would be stopping by the party.  
  
The only trouble was that the party was almost over, and there had been no sign of Clarke yet. Lexa tried not to let her disappointment show, and Monty tried his damnedest not to let Lexa knew he saw it anyways and nodded his head in understanding when Lexa quietly declined his invitation once again. They rounded the outside of her house and walked through the freshly mowed grass in the front yard before stopping at Monty's jeep and saying their goodbyes.  
  
“Well, have fun,” Monty started, “and just text me if you decide you want to join us.”  
  
“Okay,” Lexa replied softly and pushed her hands into the pockets on the front of her shorts.  
  
As they drove off and Lexa turned back around to head towards the party once again, she couldn't help but begin to seriously wonder whether Clarke was coming. She hadn't received a reply to the text message she had sent letting Clarke know what time the party was, but it had seemed to Lexa that Clarke was happy about the response if the smile Lexa had seen her flash towards her phone at the pizza place the previous night was anything to go by. The party was an open house after all, and Clarke probably realized that from the time span Lexa had told her the party was covering, so until five o'clock rolled around with no sight of the blonde Lexa knew she shouldn't let herself feel disappointed.  
  
Almost as soon as she had found her place next to Anya and Tris after they waved her over to join in on their conversation, Lexa's gaze found Clarke's as she stepped through the back door after being ushered by a smiling Gustus before he turned back into the house to most likely get a few more beverages to refill the coolers with. A small lump began to grow in the pit of Lexa's stomach, for reasons she wasn't entirely sure of, and couldn't take her eyes from the blonde as she descended the few stairs from the back porch down to the grass below.  
  
“Hi,” Clarke said quietly as she stepped up to Lexa.  
  
“Hi,” Lexa replied before swallowing thickly. “I–I'm glad you came.”  
  
“Me too,” Clarke told her with a little more guilt in her expression than Lexa liked. “Congratulations, Anya.”  
  
“Thanks,” Anya replied with a small grin as she took the card Clarke was holding out to her.  
  
“I'm Tris,” Anya's friend introduced herself to Clarke in a way that made everyone aware she was highly interested in this new person who seemed to have come to the party more for Lexa than Anya.  
  
“I'm Clarke,” the blonde replied as she shook Tris's outstretched hand.  
  
“Clarke,” Tris repeated slowly before looking over to Lexa. “This is Clarke? _The_ Clarke, as in, first kiss Clarke?”  
  
If Lexa ever had the chance to crawl into a hole and disappear for the next twenty years, she would have taken it that very moment. There was nothing she could do to stop the blush from rising to her cheeks and spreading to the tops of her ears, and Lexa just silently hoped that Clarke wouldn't notice her embarrassment. She chanced a glance over to Clarke who was smirking albeit shyly, and Lexa knew immediately that her embarrassment hadn't been as concealed as she'd hoped it would be. As if life wasn't cruel enough, Tris continued speaking.  
  
“You're even prettier than Lexa let on,” she said before lowering her voice and leaning in towards Clarke, “and she let on.”  
  
“No, I didn't!” Lexa heard herself interject before snapping her gaze over to Clarke and quickly trying to backtrack. “I–I mean, I–”  
  
“Leave her alone, Tris,” Anya warned as she nudged her friend.  
  
Lexa shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other and quickly readjusted her glasses as an awkward silence fell among the group of four before Clarke finally spoke up.  
  
“I'm going to grab a drink,” she announced with a small smile and quickly turned on her heels to head over to where she had seen the cooler sitting on the porch under the shade of a nearby tree.  
  
Lexa just watched Clarke leave and grunted softly when she felt a finger jab into her ribs. She looked over at Anya who was looking back at her with wide eyes and motioned not-so-subtly with her head to go follow after the blonde. Lexa looked confused for a moment but finally picked up on what her sister was telling her without using her words and hesitantly walked after Clarke, having absolutely no idea what she was about to say when she caught up to her.  
  
Lexa cleared her throat lightly as she stepped up behind Clarke, so as to make her presence known, and Clarke offered a small but somewhat nervous looking smile when she turned around to face Lexa with a can of pink lemonade in her hand. Just before popping the tab, Lexa reached out quickly and grabbed the can from Clarke's hand, leaving Clarke just slightly confused.  
  
“Here, um...” Lexa stuttered, “make sure you... shake it.”  
  
“Thanks,” Clarke replied with a soft smile as she took the can back from Lexa who had just shaken it a few times for her.  
  
Lexa nodded lightly and reached down quickly into the cooler to take out her own canned beverage so that it didn't look like she just awkwardly followed Clarke over to the cooler to shake her drink for her. Lexa sighed to herself as she thought that's probably exactly what Clarke thought she had done but didn't have the time to dwell on it for too long before Clarke was speaking again.  
  
“I can't believe we're graduating in a couple of weeks,” Clarke said before taking a small sip of her drink.  
  
“Yeah,” Lexa replied lamely as she fiddled with the can in her hands. “It seems unreal.”  
  
“Right?” Clarke perked up. “College always seemed so far away. Now it's right around the corner.”  
  
Lexa nodded silently and looked up at Clarke, not completely sure of how to respond. Small talk had never been her forte, and small talk with a beautiful and popular and incredible girl whom Lexa just so happened to like was certainly not in her comfort zone. She honestly didn't care that she was being so quiet. Sure it made for a slightly awkward conversation, but it was far better than rambling like an idiot and saying something she'd wished would have just stayed in her head. Lexa did feel slightly better when she noticed it seemed as though Clarke wasn't phased by the one-sided conversation and was thankful when she spoke up to break the silence again.  
  
“So, I've been wanting to talk to you,” Clarke began hesitantly as she looked up at Lexa.  
  
Again she was unable to speak, but Lexa did managed to nod in response as she tried desperately not to let her eyes dart frantically around the yard like she was looking for some kind of escape. This was another moment that Lexa had been dreading, thinking the worst about why Clarke hadn't been talking to her as often as she had been directly following the prom, but she pushed her anxiety down just enough to listen intently while Clarke started to share her thoughts.  
  
“I'm going to Europe for the summer,” Clarke finally blurted out before taking a deep breath into her lungs and trapping it there.  
  
The words echoed in Lexa's ears like a bell that had just been rung. A heaviness settled into her chest as she pondered the statement, and dozens of questions popped into her mind as she tried to sort out everything that came with Clarke's simple statement. She had thought that she'd have felt at least some level of relief from finally talking to Clarke after they had been silent for so long, but it never came and Lexa was left feeling even more anxious now than she had been before.  
  
“My parents surprised me with the trip the weekend after we went to prom,” Clarke explained, trying to ignore the dryness in her mouth as she spoke. “It was a graduation gift of sorts. They wanted me to have the opportunity to experience the true history of art.”  
  
“It's a wonderful opportunity,” Lexa chanced speaking and was surprised her voice remained so steady despite the uneasiness swelling up inside of her chest.  
  
“It is,” Clarke agreed quietly.  
  
“When do you leave?” Lexa asked softly, almost not wanting to know the answer.  
  
“A few days after graduation,” Clarke replied, to which Lexa simply nodded. “My dad and I will be there the entire summer, and my mom will be coming along for two months. She couldn't get more time than that off at the hospital. I was actually surprised that either of them could manage so much time off, but I guess it's the perks of working at the same place for the last thirty years or however long it's been...”  
  
Lexa barely noticed Clarke's rambling as she tried to bury her disappointment that she wouldn't be seeing Clarke all summer. She had been absentmindedly staring down at the can in her hands, fighting not to meet Clarke's gaze, but was unable to stop herself from chancing a glance upwards only for her heart to nearly break into a million tiny pieces when she saw Clarke looking back at her through glassy eyes, glistening with unshed tears. She immediately drew her hand up to cup Clarke's cheek but brought it back down to her side before making contact with skin she only imagined being the softest she would ever touch.  
  
“Clarke?” Lexa whispered cautiously, not wanting to pry but hoping to know why Clarke was so upset.  
  
She didn't realize what had happened until she felt Clarke's arms wrap tightly around her waist and felt their bodies flush against each other, and Lexa moved her own arms to encircle Clarke's shoulders lightly. Lexa closed her eyes and sighed into the embrace, holding their position contentedly as she reveled in all of the sensations of being able to stand so closely against her.  
  
“I didn't want to tell you,” Clarke said in a voice just over a whisper before pushing herself further into the hug.  
  
“Why not?” Lexa croaked out.  
  
A few beats of silence filled Lexa's ears, and her heart began to thud into her chest as each second passed until a quiet answer fell from Clarke's lips and caressed the skin of her neck when she spoke.  
  
“Because I'm going to miss you.”  
  
“I–I'll miss you too, Clarke,” Lexa breathed out as she angled her head to nuzzle even closer to the girl in her arms, never wanting to let go.  
  
“I really like you, Lexa,” Clarke said as she pulled herself away from their embrace.  
  
“I like you too,” Lexa replied quickly in spite of her nervousness threatening to consume her every motor function and render her completely unable to communicate.  
  
Instead Lexa felt the palm of her hand connect gently with Clarke's cheek before she brushed her fingertips across the smooth skin, wiping away the tears that had now fallen from Clarke's sparkling blue eyes. She let her gaze flick down to Clarke's parted lips for just a moment before wiping away a few more tears and pulling her hand back down to her side.  
  
“I just,” Clarke hesitated, “I just didn't want to start something only to have to leave for the entire summer, you know?”  
  
Lexa felt herself nod in response but remained silent.  
  
“And I didn't want to make you... wait for me... or something,” Clarke continued as she grew more flustered with each word out of her mouth, “I mean... if you had wanted to... I just didn't want to make you feel like you had to.”  
  
“I would,” Lexa confessed in a whisper.  
  
A few fresh tears spilled from Clarke's eyes but her face remained stoic, almost like she had known all along that Lexa would have waited for her if she would have asked. Their hearts pounded in their chests, and Lexa's eyes began brimming with her own tears as she felt pained to see Clarke in such distress right in front of her. There was nothing more that Lexa wanted to do than kiss her pain away but given the circumstances around their conversation and the company standing around them, Lexa just let the moment unfold as it was and waited for Clarke to speak.  
  
“Maybe we can just see how the summer goes until I get home,” Clarke began quietly, “and then go from there.”  
  
Lexa nodded slowly a few times and offered her agreement and blinked her tears away as Clarke sniffled and wiped her cheeks dry. At the very least Lexa finally knew why Clarke had been so distant from her, but at the very most Lexa was utterly dreading the upcoming months that were about to be spent with five thousand miles and an ocean in between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I treasure your comments and always take the time to respond to each of you, so if you feel like sharing something about the story, the current chapter, want to ask a question, or all of the above... you are more than welcome to do that below! Thank you as always for reading.
> 
> (Find me on Twitter @MsDorisDaisy)


	2. Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ACC = Arkadia Community College

“ **CONGRATULATIONS, GRADUATES**!”

The principal's voice roared over the speakers just as a chorus of cheers broke out over the audience, and the empty space above everyone was suddenly dimmed with hundreds of black graduation caps being tossed into the air by the excited students they belonged to. Lexa felt a sated smile tug at the corners of her lips as she whipped her own hat off, not really wanting to do it in the first place but even more so not wanting to be the only student with theirs still on after the ceremony concluded. The chairs once occupied by jittery seniors were quickly being abandoned as everyone broke off into their small groups of friends or family, and Lexa found herself scanning the crowd where she knew her father and sister were. When she caught her dad's gaze above the sea of people, she smiled again and made her way over.

“Congratulations, kid,” Gustus beamed as he tugged his youngest daughter in for a tight hug.

Lexa returned the embrace enthusiastically and let herself, just for a moment, fall completely limp in the strength of her father's arms. There were only a few people in her life that Lexa felt comfortable enough to open herself up to, and her father was one of them. She smiled into his shoulder as memories of his encouraging words and pieces of advice raced through her mind, and she internally rejoiced at the fact that she was able to share this monumental moment with a family who she knew loved her so much.

“You'll get a proper congratulations from me once you graduate from University,” Anya said with a shrug after Lexa had pulled herself away from their father.

Lexa scoffed out a laugh and rolled her eyes before she was being tugged into a short but meaningful hug.

“So it's just congrats for now,” Anya said into her younger sister's ear before releasing her and shoving her a few steps away.

“Are we still doing celebratory pizza tonight?” Lexa asked as she eyed her father curiously.

“Absolutely,” Gustus replied with a smile. “Are you sure you just want to order in though?”

“Yes,” Lexa immediately replied, not wanting a repeat night at a crowded pizza place.

“Pizza delivery sucks,” Anya chimed in as an indignant expression crept over her face.

“It does not,” Lexa fought back.

“It does too,” Anya immediately responded.

“Does not!”

“Does too!”

“Alright,” Gustus finally interrupted as he pushed his daughters apart. “Lexa is the graduate, so she gets to choose.”

“Does not,” Lexa ended the argument with a cocky look and stuck her tongue out at her older sister.

“Lexa!”

Anya, Gustus, and Lexa all turned their attention to the excited brunette who was practically bouncing towards them with a giant smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye. She was dragging Clarke behind her as Lincoln followed closely behind, and Lexa immediately felt her heart begin to race. Just the mere presence of the blonde sent Lexa into a panic, but one that was exciting and oddly enjoyable, so she simply swallowed her anxiousness and waited for Octavia to speak.

“Are you busy tonight?” Octavia asked when she finally stopped to stand a few feet in front of Lexa.

“I, uh...” Lexa tumbled over her words, “um...”

“Nope,” Anya interjected, “she's free as a bird.”

Lexa shot her sister a look, and Gustus chuckled to himself as he watched the scene unfold in front of him. Octavia pumped her first and voiced her approval as Clarke watched somewhat nervously from behind her friend, still holding onto the hand that had led her over to where they were standing.

“You should come to the bonfire then,” Octavia continued. “Everyone's going to be there. Clarke too!”

Lexa looked over Octavia's shoulder at Clarke who was already looking back at her, and she could have sworn she saw a tiny bit of hope flash through sparkling blue eyes. She fiddled with the sleeves of her gown for a moment as she tried to find her words again and finally spoke up.

“Okay,” Lexa said almost too quietly to hear.

“Awesome!” Octavia exclaimed. “Invite Monty and Harper too. I would have myself, but I don't have their numbers. Which, come to think of it, is stupid because friends of friends of Clarke are my friends too!”

“Take a breath, O,” Clarke said with a small smile curling the corner of her lips on one side.

“Yeah, yeah,” Octavia dismissed with a wave of her hand. “Anyways, you'll probably want to eat beforehand. The bonfires usually get lit at around sundown, but feel free to come by earlier if you want.”

“We're heading right over after we grab a quick bite to eat,” Lincoln spoke up from behind Octavia and Clarke.

Lexa simply nodded in understanding and as suddenly as the three had shown up, they were gone. Anya managed to tease Lexa a few times on their way back to the house, but Lexa didn't let on that she minded. In fact, the only thing Lexa could really concentrate on was the thought of spending the evening with Clarke. At least Lexa _hoped_ they would be spending their evening together. Even if the blonde ended up gravitating towards her other friends, Lexa found comfort in the fact that Monty and Harper would be there too.

_Shit. Monty._

**Lexa Woods: I was told to invite you and Harper to a bonfire tonight on the south side peninsula.**

**Monty Green: Sweetness! We'll be there. What time?**

**Lexa Woods: I'm having pizza with my dad and sister first but will be heading out after that. So, maybe 8pm?**

**Monty Green: Do you need a ride? I can come pick you up.**

**Lexa Woods: Yes, that would be great.**

**Monty Green: Okay, see you then!**

Lexa smiled to herself and was somewhat shocked to notice the smell of freshly made pizza wafting through the car. She looked up from her phone to see Anya holding a large pizza box in her lap and looking over at her with a small smirk.

“I know you like the girl,” Anya began, “but are you so infatuated with her texts that you actually didn't notice us stopping for pizza?”

“I wasn't... I didn't...”

“I wasn't, I didn't?” Anya questioned quickly as her eyebrows shot up and her face was quickly being overtaken with a much larger smirk.

“I was texting Monty,” Lexa finally huffed out in annoyance, “and I thought we were getting delivery, that's all.”

Anya nodded slowly as if she was trying to decide whether Lexa was telling the truth or not, and they all sat in a comfortable silence for the rest of the drive back home. The pizza was eaten quickly, as in completely demolished within no more than twenty minutes, and Gustus took to a book into the living room while Lexa and Anya retreated upstairs. Lexa had finally given into Anya's numerous requests to help her pick out something suitable to wear to the bonfire, and they found themselves in Lexa's bedroom not long after.

“So what's up with you and Clarke?” Anya blurted out as she fell casually onto her younger sister's bed.

“What do you mean?” Lexa asked cautiously as she stepped over to her closet.

“I thought I saw her crying at the party yesterday,” Anya continued. “Did you two break up or something?”

Lexa let a small sigh slip past her lips and continued searching through her clothes slowly. She honestly didn't know the answer to her sister's question partly because they hadn't actually started a relationship from which to break up. As her mind raced with all of the ways she could answer, Lexa lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug before peeking behind her to catch Anya's confused gaze.

“No,” Lexa finally decided on. “It's complicated.”

Anya laughed and let her head fall onto one of the pillows at the top of the bed, and Lexa turned herself fully around to shoot her sister an incredulous look as she propped her hands on either side of her hips.

“Sorry, it's just,” Anya began as she caught onto Lexa's unasked question, “this is your first relationship ever and it's already _complicated_.”

“Yeah, well,” Lexa cut in harshly, “it is.”

As if Anya sensed the desperation and hurt in Lexa's voice, she sat up and softly clasped her hands in her lap as she gave her undivided attention to her sister.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I wouldn't even know where to start,” Lexa mumbled as she pushed her glasses up her nose and turned back around to stare stupidly at the clothes hanging neatly in her closet.

“Why don't you tell me why she was crying?” Anya offered gently.

“She's spending the summer in Europe with her parents,” Lexa answered immediately.

“Ah yes, three uninterrupted months with your parents in a foreign country would make any girl cry,” Anya teased.

“She was upset about _us_ being apart for so long,” Lexa clarified quickly as she tugged a plaid shirt from its hanger and turned around to look at her sister. “She told me that she didn't want to ask me to wait for her.”

“Damn,” Anya breathed as she raised her eyebrows in surprise, “she actually sounds pretty sensible.”

“She told me that she likes me,” Lexa said quietly as she tugged the sweatshirt she was wearing over her head and folded it quickly before tucking it into a dresser drawer.

“Well, that's good news,” Anya replied as enthusiastically as she could.

“I just don't get it though,” Lexa said with a shake of her head. “If she likes me and I like her, why couldn't we have just... I don't know... dated or something until she left?”

“It's so hard to do that,” Anya informed her younger sister.

“To do what?”

“To get involved with someone for a short amount of time only to leave them for an even longer period of time,” Anya explained to a befuddled looking Lexa. “Think about it, you get all hot and heavy with this girl just to say goodbye for the next three months? That would have been hard and you know it.”

Lexa felt her cheeks heat at her sister's insinuation of her and Clarke being intimate but forced herself not to dwell on it in fear that her thoughts about the subject would take her to altogether inappropriate places. Instead she nodded her head a few times, finally understanding, and proceeded to tug on a fresh white tank top before slipping into the plaid shirt she'd taken out of her closet.

“Don't worry, Lex,” Anya said as she stood from her position on the bed, “if it's meant to be with you and Clarke, you’ll come together naturally.”

“Yeah,” Lexa heard herself breathe out quietly.

“Plus,” Anya began as she wagged her eyebrows for emphasis, “once the summer is over and you're on campus together, you'll be free to jump each other's bones as much as you want.”

“Anya!” Lexa squeaked in shock as the heat rose to her cheeks again.

All the older girl responded with was a hearty laugh and another wag of her eyebrows before she was pushing Lexa out of her bedroom and urging her to have fun, but not too much fun, at the bonfire with her friends. And with Clarke.

* * *

 

Lexa almost couldn't believe her eyes when she was finally able to take in the full view of what looked to be a hundred overly-excited newly graduated seniors gathered in small groups around multiple bonfires scattered down the entire length of the peninsula on the south side of the town's most popular beach.  She grabbed her vibrating phone from her back pocket and unlocked it quickly to read a new text message that had just popped up on her screen.

**MsGriffster: We're at the very last bonfire, closest to the water.**

**MsGriffster: Come find us when you get here :)**

The smile that popped up on Lexa’s face surprised even her as she completely ignored the fact that Clarke had just sent her two separate text messages that could have easily been combined into one, a pet peeve of Lexa’s that usually leaves her rolling her eyes, but with Clarke it seems to be different. Everything seems to be different with Clarke. Everything.

“Anyone see Octavia?” Harper asked as she continued scanning each of the bonfires.

“I think she and Clarke are at the end,” Lexa replied and thought she caught a glimpse of Clarke’s hair through the flames.

“I still can’t believe we're doing all this stuff with the popular kids now,” Monty piped up as they began walking through the sand.

“Yeah, first the lake and now the bonfire,” Harper agreed, “I guess it pays to know people in high places.”

Lexa looked over at Harper only to be met with a genuinely playful expression on the blonde’s face. She knew the girl was referring to Lexa knowing Clarke, but Lexa could also tell by the look on her face and the tone in her voice that she was just teasing which helped Lexa not to take offense. Even though she didn’t know Harper extremely well, Lexa trusted Monty enough to be a good judge of character and not date someone who was only trying to weasel her way into the popular group by proxy.

As they closed the distance to the last bonfire where Clarke had texted Lexa she would be, Lexa couldn’t help but take notice of all of the other groups along the way. Some were overly-enthusiastically dancing around the flames, some were drinking alcohol they’d assuredly gotten from someone’s older sibling, and some were strumming on guitars and singing the latest and most popular radio hits. A small tug of uncertainty created an annoyance inside Lexa’s head as she wondered what Clarke’s group would be doing, but it was too late to turn back the moment green eyes met blue across the flickering amber flames dancing up from the fire atop the soft sand beneath their feet.

“The gang’s all here!” Lincoln announced as he looked at the three newcomers with a smile on his face.

Lexa didn’t miss the way Clarke smiled shyly before dipping her head and fiddling with the stick between her fingers for a few seconds before gaining enough composure to look back up and around the group casually. The second thing Lexa didn’t miss was the epic eye roll that Finn practically threw in their faces after Lincoln had spoken up. Thankfully the rest of the group didn’t seem to share Finn’s sentiments, and they were all welcome to sit around the fire and join in on the conversation.

“Hey,” Clarke greeted as she stood up quickly and stepped over towards Lexa.

“Hi,” Lexa replied quietly.

“Do you want a s’more?” Clarke asked with a twitch of her smile. “I’m really good at making them.”

“Um, yeah,” Lexa started out slowly, “okay.”

Clarke ushered Lexa over to the opposite side of the fire where she had been sitting beside Finn and invited her to take a seat while she busied herself shoving a marshmallow onto a stick and liberating a graham cracker and piece of chocolate from their wrappers. Lexa nearly cringed when her backside connected with the sand and felt the warmth radiating off Finn’s body. He was so close and Lexa could have sworn she smelled a heavy scent of cologne wafting from him, and she let herself wonder for just a second if he had put that on for Clarke.

“The secret is in the embers,” Clarke said as she scooted closer to Lexa.

“Hmm?” Lexa simply hummed in question.

“If you roast a marshmallow over a flame, it will just burn,” Clarke instructed as she kept her eyes on the fire. “If you roast it over hot embers, it’ll get all gooey inside. The perfect consistency for a perfect s’more.”

Lexa just nodded in understanding, suddenly feeling incapable of speaking as Clarke looked over at her with a sweet smile dancing across her lips, and Lexa barely realized that she had let her gaze wander from sparkling blue eyes down to Clarke’s lips for just a moment before Clarke was turning her attention back towards the fire. Her heart stuttered in her chest, and Lexa was even more suddenly resisting the urge to turn Clarke’s face back towards hers. It wasn’t a feeling she was used to, getting butterflies just from someone looking at her, but it was something Lexa hoped she could feel over and over again.

A small gust of wind kicked around a few flames, and Lexa was suddenly very happy that she had worn a long sleeved shirt to go with her shorts. The summer nights were always quite pleasant and warm, but being out on a peninsula with water surrounding them was just enough to give the air a slight chill even despite the warmth coming from the bonfire just at their feet. Lexa looked over at Clarke and noticed she was wearing a sweatshirt and mentally rejoiced at the fact that she wouldn’t be having to give Clarke her shirt if she got cold. Which was something she would totally do in a heartbeat. For politeness sake and all.

“Here you go,” Clarke announced as she presented Lexa with a melted mess of marshmallow and chocolate squished between two pieces of graham cracker.

Her eyebrows jumped up on their own accord, and Lexa wasn’t even sure where she should hold the sticky dessert, worried that most of it would end up all over her hands rather than in her mouth. Clarke giggled quietly as she studied Lexa’s concern and finally urged her to just grab it, which Lexa did hesitantly, and they both nearly stopped breathing when their fingers tangled for a split second as they completed the exchange. Lexa swallowed slowly as she watched Clarke bring her own fingers up to her mouth and suck the remnants of melted marshmallow that had seeped out and clung to her skin.

The first bite of the s’more had Lexa nearly moaning in delight, a sound which Clarke certainly wouldn’t have minded hearing, but she managed to keep her noises of pleasure to herself as she munched happily on the sweet treat that Clarke had prepared for her and felt relieved that she had something to momentarily distract her from the fact that Clarke had shifted herself so close that their thighs were lightly brushing.

“So, Lexa,” Octavia spoke up from her position wrapped inside Lincoln’s arms, “where are you going to college in the fall?”

“Polis University,” Lexa replied, her voice muffled by the squishy marshmallow she was trying to swallow.

“Awesome,” Octavia offered. “That’s where most of us are going too. What about you guys?”

Monty and Harper both told Octavia their plans for starting Polis University when she asked them, and they chatted for a while about which majors everyone was going after. When Lexa was asked, she felt a wave of embarrassment rush to her cheeks for reasons she wasn’t entirely sure and shrugged her shoulders nervously.

“I’m not sure yet,” she answered somewhat dishonestly.

She’d always had dreams of studying the stars, learning about galaxies and pondering the vastness of the universe, but it had always seemed like just that. A dream. Now that she was finally going off to University in a few short months, Lexa had been second-guessing herself and began wondering more often than not if studying space was a practical use of her time and efforts.

“Photography?” Clarke asked as she caught Lexa’s gaze.

“That’s, um, more of a hobby I guess,” Lexa said as she picked at her fingernails.

“What about space?” Octavia asked from the other side of the bonfire. “Clarke tells me you love space.”

“I do,” Lexa admitted as a light blush decorated her cheeks.

“I can’t imagine you could do that much with a _space degree_ ,” Finn jumped in as he added air quotes to the last two words that he spoke.

“She could be an astronomer or a physics professor,” Clarke immediately spoke up defensively.

“Or a research scientist,” Monty chimed in.

“She could be a mother fucking astronaut,” Octavia snapped, clearly letting everyone know that her filter was turned off for the night.

Clarke snorted back a laugh and nudged her knee into Lexa’s lightly. A small smile broke out over Lexa’s lips and she let herself relax back onto her hands as they buried themselves into the sand, and the group easily transitioned onto another subject. It wasn’t long after that Lexa felt Clarke’s fingers meet her own underneath the thin layer of sand, and she chanced a look up at Clarke. A look of both desire and regret flashed across the blonde’s face, and Lexa sighed under her breath as she looked away and back towards the fire in front of them. There was nothing more she wanted to do than pick up Clarke’s hand and hold it in her own, lean over and meet her lips in a meaningful kiss, wrap her arms around her and hold her tight, but she knew she couldn’t. As much as she wanted to, Lexa knew she couldn’t. She shouldn’t.

“I think we’re going to take off,” Monty said to Lexa as he gestured between himself and Harper.

Lexa could hardly believe that a few hours had already passed since the time they had arrived at the beach, and she was almost dreading the end of the night because she knew that was the moment that would separate her from Clarke for the next three months. She felt a small squeeze from Clarke’s hand where it was joined with her own, a move that Lexa still couldn’t believe she even had the guts to make about an hour prior, and it wasn’t a second later that she heard Clarke speaking.

“I can give her a ride home,” Clarke offered before looking back over to Lexa, “if you want.”

“Sure,” Lexa replied with a small nod.

Monty and Harper said their goodbyes and soon Octavia and Lincoln were saying theirs as well. Finn had left shortly after _Lexa_ had noticed that _he_ had noticed her holding Clarke’s hand, and Lexa had somewhat guiltily done a happy dance in her head when Finn had finally gotten the hint. Their hands never left one another’s during the walk back to Clarke’s jeep, and it was only when they had to climb inside that Clarke let Lexa’s fingers slip from her own.

As the distance to Lexa’s house grew increasingly shorter, Clarke could feel her anxiety building exponentially because she knew that this was goodbye. It would be goodbye for three months once she pulled up to Lexa’s house and walked her to the door and forced herself not to give in and kiss the brunette into oblivion, and it was just about the hardest thing Clarke could imagine herself not doing in her entire life.

“So I guess this is it,” Clarke croaked as she came to a stop behind Lexa on her front porch.

“I guess so,” Lexa replied softly.

It wasn’t a second later that Lexa felt Clarke’s body colliding with hers and strong arms wrapping around her neck in a desperate embrace that Lexa knew meant so much more than just a simple hug. She let her own arms circle around Clarke’s waist and closed her eyes as she let all of her senses experience the intimacy of the moment. The fruity smell of Clarke’s shampoo, the feeling of her short breaths expanding and contracting against Lexa’s chest, the sound of her sniffling back quiet sobs, everything that Lexa was allowing herself to feel simply by being close to Clarke was intoxicating. She felt herself clinging on for dear life after another few seconds and didn’t notice the way her hands had grabbed at the back of Clarke’s sweatshirt and wound the fabric tightly into her straining fists.

“I’m going to miss you so much,” Clarke whispered as she let a fresh stream of tears trickle down her cheeks before nuzzling her face into the curve of Lexa’s neck.

“I’ll miss you too,” Lexa managed to choke out as she tried not to lose her focus on the feeling of Clarke’s warm breath hitting the sensitive skin of her neck and the heat of it tangling in the back of her hair.

As Clarke pulled herself away from their embrace, Lexa swallowed nervously. She wanted more than anything to give Clarke a goodbye kiss but didn’t know whether she would be able to muster up the courage to do so. Taking her hand in front of everyone at the bonfire was a move that already left her feeling drained, and Clarke wasn’t making things any easier by not giving any sign whether she would be open to a kiss or not. Her gaze flicked down to Clarke’s lips, and it was only then that Clarke showed an indication of what she must have been thinking. The feeling of Clarke pulling away left Lexa feeling open and vulnerable, and she felt her heart plummet at having lost the chance to feel Clarke’s lips against hers one last time.

A shiver ran down Lexa’s arms as she felt the ghosting touch of Clarke’s fingers trace down their length until their fingers on both hands were wound together tightly. Lexa watched as blue eyes mapped out her face, and she couldn’t help but let her gaze fall once more to the parted pink lips just a foot away from her own. She could almost taste them and wanted so badly to that she didn’t even realize her body inching forward to close the distance.

“Wait,” Clarke breathed out as her eyes closed on their own accord.

Lexa snapped out of her haze and shifted her gaze up, expecting to find the blue eyes she’d come to crave looking back at her, and was slightly disappointed to see no such color. She watched silently as Clarke’s tightly closed eyelids twitched as if she was attempting to calm herself inside her own head, and Lexa wasn’t even aware she was holding her breath until Clarke spoke again.

“If I kiss you now,” Clarke began in a whisper, “I’ll never be able to leave.”

Lexa felt her own eyes close as she nodded and, not knowing what came over her, lifted a hand to rest lightly on Clarke’s cheek as their foreheads came together gently. They stood breathing each other’s air for a few moments until Lexa felt her hand begin to tremble with overwhelming nervousness but just as she was about to let it fall back down to her side, Clarke covered it with her own and squeezed it gently. Tears pricked at the back of Lexa’s eyes and it wasn’t before long that Clarke was pulling their hands down from her face and stepping away altogether.

“I should go,” Clarke whispered as she separated the last of herself from Lexa completely.

“Okay,” Lexa agreed with a faint nod before shoving her hands into the front pockets of her shorts.

“See you in three months,” Clarke said as she looked squarely in Lexa’s now watering eyes and struggled to keep herself together.

“Okay,” was all Lexa was able to manage before her heart sank in her chest while she watched Clarke turn on her heels and walk away.

* * *

 

“Excellent work, Aden,” Lexa said through a smile as she lowered the sample test to the kitchen table they were both sitting at.

The young boy, about nine years her junior, smiled brightly at Lexa’s compliment before enthusiastically turning to the next page in his work booklet. He had finally mastered the complex practice of long division after only a few tutoring sessions led by Lexa now that school was out for the summer. She loved being able to teach kids through their frustrations and experience with them the moment it would all finally click, and it was no different with Aden.

There was something special about him, Lexa knew it, and it was most likely do to his extreme shyness that he only put in the minimal amount of effort during class and never dared to ask a question when he didn’t quite understand the concept that was being taught. He had managed to catch on quickly to everything Lexa had gone over with him, and it was that afternoon in particular after he had earned a perfect score on his sample test when Lexa decided it was time for them to move onto geometry.

“So how many different geometric shapes can you name?” Lexa asked gently.

“Um,” Aden began quietly, “circle.”

“Yes,” Lexa replied with a nod.

“Square,” Aden added.

“Mmhmm,” Lexa hummed and nodded again.

“Rectangle,” Aden continued, “triangle.”

“How many different types of triangles are there, do you know?” Lexa questioned.

Aden offered no verbal response but shook his head lightly.

“There’s equilateral, isosceles, and scalene triangles,” Lexa explained as she picked up a pencil and began drawing each of the types of triangles she had just mentioned. “Equilateral triangles have three sides that are exactly the same length as each other. Isosceles triangles have two sides that are exactly the same length, but the third side is a different length. And scalene triangles have three sides that are all different lengths.”

Aden nodded in understanding as he watched Lexa point to each of the three triangles drawn on the paper between them. He noticed as she moved the tip of her pencil along each side as she was describing them, and he immediately took notice of the varying lengths of the lines or ‘sides’ of the shape. They went over what types of angles were found in each type of triangle and how to measure them, and Aden was feeling more confident than ever by the time he was filling out a new page in his workbook and only having to make a few corrections to his entries as he went. As the second hour of their session came to a close, Lexa set her pencil down onto the table and looked over at the tired but smiling young boy.

“Do you think your mom would care if you had a popsicle again today?” Lexa asked with a sneaky smile on her lips.

“No, of course not,” Aden replied quickly.

Lexa chuckled at his enthusiasm and stood from her chair to make her way over to the freezer. She knew, thanks to their last tutoring session, that Aden’s favorite flavor was green so she searched the box until she found one for him and a purple one for herself. She handed him his reward and sat back down in her chair before tearing away the protective wrapper and breaking the tip of her popsicle off with her front teeth.

“So how is your game going?” Lexa asked, referring to his latest favorite world-building tablet game that he liked to play at home in his spare time.

“Really good,” Aden immediately responded as his eyes lit up in excitement. “I finally found a queen for my kingdom and started building my castle.”

“What does it look like?” Lexa asked genuinely.

“It has three turrets with a giant mote,” Aden explained between slurps, “and I put alligators in the water.”

“So that neighboring kingdoms who might want to fight you for your land will get eaten before they can get inside the castle?” Lexa asked with a smile.

“Exactly!” Aden exclaimed.

“So after the castle is done, then what do you do?” Lexa asked before taking another bite of her frozen treat.

“The King has to train a cavalry and eventually an infantry,” Aden explained carefully, “and once you have an infantry, you can choose whether or not to create an elite knighthood.”

“Elite knighthood?” Lexa questioned as her eyebrow shot up in confusion.

“They’re a special group of fighters,” Aden continued. “They’re like an elite group that the King and Queen train to make treaties with other Kings and Queens to make them their allies. The elite knighthood can then use their alliance for good and pool their resources but giving them a share of all your points, or they can use their position to attack other kingdoms and then take all of their resources and points too.”

“What do you plan on doing?” Lexa wondered out loud.

“I want to make alliances,” Aden answered assuredly. “It takes longer and you do have to give up some of your points, but you end up collecting _way_ more resources in the long run that way. Alliances can last for generations.”

“Hmm,” Lexa hummed as she nodded. “Well, it sounds like you have everything all planned out already.”

“I have ideas,” Aden said as he shrugged his shoulders.

They chatted for another few minutes about the game and their next tutoring session until they had both finished their popsicles and headed outside to the front porch to wait for Aden’s mother to come pick him up. She was on time as always and offered a wave and her thanks to Lexa before driving off with Aden in tow. As her ritual had turned into, Lexa made her way back up to her bedroom before taking a few minutes to look through her Instagram feed on her laptop to see what new pictures Clarke had posted during her summer abroad.

The first week she’d been gone, Lexa hadn’t heard anything from her. Not a phone call, not a text, not an email, nothing. By the second week she began noticing a few pictures pop up here and there on her feed, and Lexa managed to push back the disappointment of not actually seeing _Clarke_ in any of the pictures but found herself enjoying following along the blonde’s journey as she moved from city to city, and then from country to country, with her parents. It was by about the sixth week that Clarke had posted a picture, a special picture, a picture containing a beautiful purple flower, and Lexa all but burst with excitement when she noticed her username tagged onto the image.

Since that day, they spent each week taking pictures of whatever they thought was interesting or beautiful or serene and tagged each other in a wordless conversation that Lexa hoped brightened Clarke’s day as much as it did her own. She smiled softly when she saw Clarke’s latest picture, the subject matter being the most delicious looking cannoli Lexa had ever seen in her life, and immediately thought of which type of food to photograph, tag, and send back.

“Lexa?” Gustus yelled out from the bottom of the staircase.

“Yeah?” Lexa shouted back but didn’t receive an answer.

She had just opened her mouth to yell again, but her father instead appeared in her doorway. Her eyebrows raised in silent question as she notice him narrow his eyes slightly before clearing his throat and speaking softly.

“Are you here for dinner tonight?” He asked.

“Yep,” Lexa answered with a small smile.

“It should be ready in about an hour,” Gustus said slowly.

“Okay,” Lexa replied just as slowly, unsure of why her father was acting strangely.

“You didn’t spoil your appetite, did you?” Gustus asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Nope,” Lexa replied quickly before looking back down to her laptop.

“Your purple lips say differently,” he replied playfully.

Lexa immediately pulled her lips into her mouth, realizing that the popsicle she finished with Aden earlier must have stained her skin, and she looked up at her father with a slightly guilty expression on her face. It wasn’t like she was a kid anymore, hell, she was almost eighteen but she couldn’t help but feel like she’d just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar with the way her father was staring at her incredulously.

“Sorry,” Lexa muttered quietly from the side of her mouth, “I’ll still be hungry for dinner.”

“Alright, just be home in an hour,” Gustus said knowingly, even though Lexa was still lying on her bed and hadn’t made any verbal indication she was going anywhere.

“Be home?” Lexa questioned.

“Every time you have a tutoring session with Aden, you come up to your room and check Clarke’s Imagegram page or whatever it’s called,” Gustus explained, “and then you leave to go take pictures before you come home for dinner and tell me all about which pictures you think Clarke will like.”

Lexa stitched her eyebrows together slightly as she listened to her father’s keen observations, feeling somewhat surprised that she had become so predictable. She closed her laptop with a huff and looked up towards her father before speaking.

“Well, I’m not going out,” Lexa replied defiantly.

“You can go out, Lexa–”

“I’m not going out,” Lexa interrupted and shrugged casually before grabbing a book from her bedside table and flipping it open.

Although he could easily tell that his daughter wasn’t upset, he dropped the conversation and retreated downstairs to start working on dinner preparations. As Lexa read somewhat distractedly, she couldn’t help but think about what she should take a picture of to respond to Clarke’s latest picture. It wasn’t a few hours later that an image of a perfectly staged plate of homemade lasagna and buttery crusty bread was posted to her Instagram and tagged with a particular blonde’s username.

* * *

 

“Mmmm,” Clarke hummed in appreciation as she let a blissful smile stretch across her lips, “this is the most delicious croissant I've ever had in my life.”

“That's what you said yesterday,” Jake replied as he raised an eyebrow from over his steaming cup of morning coffee.

“And the day before,” Abby piped up from the other side of the table.

“I'm serious this time!” Clarke exclaimed as she tore off another small piece of the buttery pastry with her fingers and popped it into her mouth.

Clarke had always been one to find pleasure in the simplest of things, from the smell of freshly cut grass in the summer to a well-timed punch line at the end of a joke to a breakfast delicacy baked to golden perfection. The genuine happiness that shone through every part of her personality was addicting and people around her would often find themselves benefiting from the emanating effects. Another contented moan from the groggy blonde teenager caused Jake to chuckle and Abby to roll her eyes playfully.

“I think she’s enjoying the food here more than the art,” Abby teased as she looked over at her husband.

“I am not!” Clarke managed to defend herself between bites.

“That reminds me,” Jake started as he lowered his newspaper and looked over at Clarke, “your mother and I were thinking a visit to The Louvre today might be a suitable birthday celebration for our now adult aspiring artist, what do you think?”

“I think that sounds amazing!” Clarke exclaimed as she jumped up from her seat on the plush couch in the apartment they had booked for their stay and bounced over to her where her father was, quickly placing a small peck on his cheek.

Another small chuckle fell from his lips as Clarke shoved the last piece of her breakfast into her mouth and all but skipped into the bathroom to get ready for the day. Her mind was racing through all of the amazing art pieces she was about to see, from the statue of Venus de Milo to the painting of the Mona Lisa, Clarke was itching to see them all and could barely contain her excitement as she hurried through her morning routine as fast as she possibly could. About forty-five minutes later, Clarke was dressed and standing at attention by the front door of the apartment as she waited rather impatiently for her parents to gather the last of their items for the day and follow her out.

The best part about renting an apartment in the heart of the city was how central it was to everything that made Paris, well, Paris. They had walked to their destinations every morning they had been there, and the little bit of extra exercise that Clarke wasn’t used to was actually welcomed by her as it saved her from feeling all too guilty about indulging in so many rich and undoubtedly unhealthy foods while she was there. As they finally found themselves in front of the famous art museum, Clarke let a sharp intake of air fill her lungs as she fought the tears pooling in her eyes from spilling. She barely had enough time to think, react, live in that very moment, until she felt a small squeeze on her left arm.

“I just... I can’t believe we’re here,” Clarke said in a voice just above a whisper. “I’m actually here... in Paris... ready to walk through those doors and experience some of the most beautiful masterpieces right in front of my own face. I just can’t believe it.”

“Maybe you’ll believe it when you see it,” Jake offered from Clarke’s right side and gestured for her to continue walking towards the museum.

A giddy smile spread across her lips before Clarke was quickly propelling herself towards the architecturally beautiful building as her parents tried to keep a close pace. The entire day was spent ogling at famous works of art followed by more ogling of more famous works of art with only a short break for lunch in between. Clarke made it her mission to see each and every piece in the museum before they finally called it a day and couldn’t have been more thrilled when she mentally checked off the last exhibit as they strolled the final corridor before they were lead back to the grand entrance doors.

“Maybe someday this place will be home to a piece or two by the one and only Clarke Griffin, artist extraordinaire,” Jake told his daughter with a bright smile as they walked slowly through the perfectly landscaped gardens outside of the museum.

Clarke frowned at the sudden realization that the art she was witness to over the last several hours was so much grander than hers. It seemed so much more inspired than anything she’d ever been able to put down on a canvas, and her usually dormant insecurities began bubbling up to the surface of her skin as she continued to worry her brow as the silent seconds ticked by. A strong grip on her wrist gave her pause, and she looked up to see her father peering down at her with a concerned look in his eyes. Clarke sighed heavily and rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.

“I’m never going to be able to create masterpieces like those,” Clarke said dejectedly as she gestured towards the museum.

“Not with that attitude, you’re not,” Abby added lightly.

“Clarke, we brought you here to inspire you,” Jake continued, “not to discourage you.”

“I know, but–”

“You’ll never create master works if you don’t believe you can, Clarke,” Abby interrupted her daughter quickly. “Your father and I have more faith in you than you could ever imagine.”

“I know,” Clarke replied as she lowered her head and started to feel the tears spring to her eyes.

“You have to believe in yourself too, Clarke,” Jake told her as he squeezed her shoulder softly.

Clarke said nothing in response but lifted her arms to circle her father’s neck tightly as she pulled him in for a hug. Abby followed up with her own when Clarke turned to her, and they all shared a few encouraging smiles before they finished their self-paced tour of the grounds and headed towards the restaurant that Jake and Abby had staked out as the perfect place to have Clarke's birthday dinner. The food was outstanding, though Clarke had almost begun to wonder if bad food in Paris was even a thing, and the birthday dessert certainly didn't disappoint either. It wasn't until they were walking out of the eatery that Clarke heard her phone ringing, and it almost surprised her since she hadn't exactly been receiving too many calls while she was on the other side of the world from her friends and family.

**Incoming Call: Baby Blake**

“Hey, O!” Clarke exclaimed cheerfully into her phone.

_“Morning, Birthday girl.”_

“I just ate dinner,” Clarke replied with a grin, knowing that her groggy friend hadn't taken the time difference into consideration.

_“Oh, right. So how was your day?”_

“It was amazing,” Clarke sighed happily as she slowed her pace behind her parents slightly. “We went to The Louvre and then out to dinner at this incredible French restaurant. I've never had a better cheese soufflé in my entire life.”

_“Have you ever had a cheese soufflé in your entire life?”_

“Well,” Clarke began as she twisted a rogue lock of golden hair between her fingers, “no, but I could just tell that this will be the best one I'll ever eat.”

_“How do you know that, Clarke? Have you eaten them all? Have you eaten every cheese soufflé ever made, Clarke?”_

“Oh, shut up,” Clarke answered with a huff.

_“So what did your parents get you?”_

“For what?” Clarke asked as her eyes scrunched together in confusion.

_“For your birthday.”_

“Are you crazy?” Clarke hissed quietly so that her parents wouldn't overhear. “They brought me to Europe for the entire summer and have been paying for everything we've done while we have been here which, trust me, has been a lot. I'm not expecting another birthday gift for the rest of my life.”

_“Please. Your parents spoil you.”_

“No, they don't,” Clarke replied quickly, suddenly feeling defensive.

_“Not in a bad way or anything. Seriously. I should have said it like that...”_

Clarke scrunched her mouth to one side of her face but said nothing in response, instead letting Octavia continue.

_“I just meant that your parents are so generous that I'd just be surprised if they didn't have a gift for you, that's all. You're the nicest spoiled person I know. Honest.”_

“Gee, thanks,” Clarke said with a roll of her eyes.

_“I'm serious, Clarke. Plus I really want you to bring back souvenirs for me, so I have to give you compliments.”_

“Well, maybe you should have thought of that before you called me spoiled,” Clarke quipped as she pulled her fingers through her hair.

_“A **nice** spoiled person, remember? A nice one.”_

“Yeah, yeah,” Clarke mumbled before shoving her free hand in the front pockets of her shorts.

_“So what are you bringing me?”_

“I don't know,” Clarke said with a small chuckle, “what do you want?”

_“Some really good French fries... or a really hot French guy!”_

“I can't see either of those traveling very well in my already over-packed luggage,” Clarke replied, “plus you have Lincoln.”

_“But Lincoln's not French!”_

“No, but he's hot,” Clarke reminded her, which earned an amused look back from both of her parents.

_“You're not wrong, but I'll need some company throughout the school year.”_

“You're not breaking up with Lincoln, are you?” Clarke asked, suddenly feeling rather concerned with her best friend's relationship status.

_“I don't know.”_

The sound of a sigh on the other line had Clarke feeling even more concerned, but she said nothing and waited for Octavia to continue.

_“It's just going to be so hard when I'm at Polis U and he's at ACC. We... we talked about maybe taking a break... just for the school year and then seeing what happens next summer.”_

“A break?” Clarke asked disbelievingly. “Did you learn nothing from Ross and Rachel?”

_“That's different. If we do it, we would set rules so that no one does anything the other doesn't know about.”_

“You really think that's going to work?” Clarke heard herself ask before she could stop.

_“I don't know, Clarke. I just said we were thinking about it.”_

“Look, O,” Clarke tried to backtrack, “you know I love you, and I'll support whatever decision you make.”

_“I know. Anyways, I didn't mean to bring this big drama llama into the conversation–”_

“Of course not,” Clarke interrupted as a smirk grew on her face, “as Lexa so astutely and sarcastically pointed out that night at the lake, you are not one for drama.”

_“Speaking of Lexa, how is she?”_

“She's okay, I think,” Clarke said with a small shrug. “We haven't talked a lot, and I think she's busy with her tutoring and stuff.”

_“Don't think I haven't seen you guys tagging each other in pictures on Instagram. It's so cute that it's sick.”_

“Well, what can I say?” Clarke replied quickly. “I'm cute.”

_“Eh, you're okay. You're just much cuter with Lexa is all I'm saying.”_

Clarke took a deep breath and bit the inside of her bottom lip. She had spent so much time trying not to think about Lexa that actually talking about her, out loud, was bringing back all of the feelings she had wanted to leave back home at least until the end of the summer. It was so hard saying goodbye, and the thought of spending months apart only weeks after they had shared their first kiss felt like torture. As Clarke felt her cheeks begin to heat as she thought about the other girl, Octavia broke the silence once again.

_“Cuter in a disgusting kind of way.”_

“Shut up,” Clarke sighed into the phone.

_“Okay, Clarke, I have to go. My stomach is like two seconds away from eating itself, and I smell my mom cooking bacon.”_

“Mmmm, bacon,” Clarke hummed blissfully as a droopy smile spread across her face.

_“You are such a bacon whore. I hope Lexa knows she'll be cooking you bacon every day for the rest of your life.”_

“I'm not _that_ big of a whore,” Clarke said without even realizing how what she was saying sounded.

When her mother's head whipped around and she was being nearly leveled with the look, Clarke's eyes widened as the realization of what she'd just said dawned on her and quickly tried to correct herself for her parents' sake.

“A _bacon_ whore, a bacon–” Clarke tried to clarify to her utter embarrassment again, “somebody who really likes bacon!”

Clarke heard Octavia fall into a fit of giggles on the other line and imagined her father, who hadn't turned around and made eye contact with his daughter, was probably cringing at the sound of his only daughter saying 'whore' twice in the last five seconds. It was a word no father ever wanted to associate with his own daughter, and Clarke almost felt nauseous at how uncomfortable she probably just made him but silently rejoiced when her mother pursed her lips and turned her head back around. Clarke blinked a few times and listened to the last of her best friend's laughter before she huffed out an annoyed sigh.

“I hate you.”

_“Happy Birthday, babe!”_

* * *

 

**Lexa Woods: Happy Birthday, Clarke.**

Her finger hovered over the send button as she paced her breathing and tried to summon all of her courage to press it. It wasn't like a birthday text was something that was supposed to be nerve-wracking but, for Lexa, it really was. She and Clarke had been tagging each other on Instagram for the last month, wordlessly communicating through pictures of flowers and food and landmarks. It was the best kind of conversation for the shy brunette, and she loved being able to delve into her creative side as she carefully composed her pictures before posting them to her feed. Plus having an excuse to show off her photography skills a little wasn't something Lexa was complaining about. She'd never have the guts to do so in person, so Clarke unknowingly presenting her with the opportunity was certainly not wasted.

Lexa let out the deep breath she had been holding in her lungs and tapped her screen lightly. Before she could think twice, she locked her phone and shoved it into her back pocket before looping her messenger bag across her chest and heading downstairs. She knew Monty was expecting her downtown within the next thirty minutes, and it took nearly twenty to make the walk. With a small leap to clear the final step of the staircase, Lexa quickly made her way towards the front door and barely noticed her father behind his desk in the study just off the foyer.

“Where are you off to?” He asked as he peered over his glasses, a pen grasped in his hand.

“Oh,” Lexa began, trying to push down the startled feeling that had jolted through her chest at his voice, “I'm meeting Monty downtown.”

“Will you be back for dinner?”

“No, we're going to get something to eat while we're there,” Lexa replied as she readjusted the strap of her bag over her shoulder.

“Do you need any money?” Gustus asked as he tipped his face up towards his daughter questioningly.

“I've been tutoring all summer, Dad,” Lexa answered quickly.

“You're still my daughter, and the law says I have to feed you,” he offered with a teasing smile.

“I'm good,” Lexa said with a smile of her own, “thanks though.”

“Have fun, kid,” Gustus said with a single nod and looked back down to his work.

Lexa turned towards the front door again and pulled her phone from her pocket to check the time. No sooner had she confirmed she had twenty five minutes to get to where she needed to be without being late that a new text message notification popped up on her screen. She took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for whatever the message may be, and clicked on the notification icon quickly.

_Get it together, Woods. It could be a text from Monty for all you know._

**MsGriffster: Thanks! How have you been?**

She couldn't help the small smile that crept onto her lips or the feeling of excitement that swelled inside of her as she read and reread the text a few times, thinking hard about how to respond.

**Lexa Woods: I've been good. Busy with tutoring. I hope I'm not keeping you up.**

She cringed slightly as she noticed the time on her phone and did a quick calculation of the time difference, noting that it was probably after ten in the evening for Clarke. A sense of relief washed over her as Lexa read the quick response and found herself typing back without a second thought.

**MsGriffster: Nope! I've been good too, btw ;)**

**Lexa Woods: That was going to be my next question. I was just making sure I wasn't interrupting your sleep.**

**MsGriffster: Always so considerate, Woods.**

Lexa smiled at the way Clarke addressed her by her last name. It was something she did in her own head often, but she loved it even more when it came from Clarke.

**Lexa Woods: I try. So is Paris everything you thought it would be?**

**MsGriffster: And more! It's amazing here! I never want to leave!**

Lexa couldn't help but chuckle at the blonde's overuse of the exclamation mark in her texts, but the lightheartedness Lexa was feeling was quickly forgotten as she let the reality of that last bit sink in. She suddenly felt herself aching to see Clarke, feeling desperate to touch her, and hoped more than anything that so many miles never separated them again. Lexa swallowed thickly and typed out the most honest response she could think of.

**Lexa Woods: I would be pretty sad if you never came back.**

Her heart hammered in her chest as she waited for Clarke to reply, feeling nervous and excited at the same time to read whatever it was she decided to send back.

**MsGriffster: I wouldn't want that :)**

**MsGriffster: Okay, Woods, I'll come home.**

**MsGriffster: Just for you.**

Even though she knew Clarke was just playing along, Lexa couldn't stop herself from feeling downright giddy at the words. A giggle threatened to break free from her throat, but Lexa held it back in favor of typing out a response. She didn't want their back-and-forth to stop, and it was the first time they had really ever flirted with each other. At least, it's what Lexa thought was flirting. It was, wasn't it?

**Lexa Woods: I know that's not true, but thanks nonetheless.**

**MsGriffster: Do you ever swear? I'd love to hear you swear.**

Lexa's eyebrows scrunched together at the randomness of the text but felt her fingers flying over her screen anyways.

**Lexa Woods: That's random...**

**MsGriffster: You're just so proper all the time! Nonetheless. I would never even think to use that word in a conversation. Like ever.**

Lexa couldn't help the giggle that escaped from her throat that time as she pictured Clarke looking down at her phone and shaking her head in amusement.

**Lexa Woods: Are you critiquing my use of proper grammar in my texts?**

**MsGriffster: Critiquing? No. I think it's cute ;)**

A burning meteor streaking through the sky on a collision course directly at her couldn't wipe off the smile that had plastered itself onto Lexa's face, and she felt her cheeks burning from the heat that had settled onto her skin and from the strain of her muscles as her smile threatened to make itself even wider and permanently affix itself onto her face.

**MsGriffster: I should say goodnight though. My parents are trying to go over tomorrow's plan with me, and I'm barely listening to them between my sleepiness and our flirty banter.**

_That settles it. Clarke says we're flirting, so we're flirting._

**Lexa Woods: No problem. I'm just about to meet Monty anyways.**

**MsGriffster: Goodnight, Lexa :)**

**Lexa Woods: Goodnight, Clarke.**

“What's got you so smiley?” Monty said as Lexa walked into earshot.

She whipped her head up at the sound of a familiar voice and couldn't actually believe that she had already made it downtown. Lexa had been so into her conversation with Clarke that she hadn't even paid attention to her journey from her house to where she saw Monty standing a few arms' lengths away from her. She frowned suddenly, hoping that she hadn't cut across any traffic she wasn't supposed to have in her apparently hazy walk.

“I was just texting Clarke,” Lexa tried to say nonchalantly and threw in a weak shrug for good measure.

“I should have known,” Monty teased back. “Nothing gets you smiling like that besides a new NASA tweet or Clarke.”

“Whatever,” Lexa replied as she rolled her eyes lightly.

They began a slow stroll down the quaint main street that was lined with a variety of shops, from the more popular ones to those run by families, and Lexa felt herself relax into the simple routine of dipping into each store they felt interested enough to browse before moving onto the next one. It was something they had done since grade school, and they would oftentimes find themselves discussing which stores they wished would have stayed in place longer and which they thought were simply a waste of space. After spending a solid thirty minutes browsing the latest CDs in their favorite music shop, Lexa and Monty found themselves back out on the sidewalk and chatting about their impending first semester of University.

“Have you gotten your dorm assignment yet?” Monty asked as he kicked a small stone with the tip of his shoe.

“Yeah,” Lexa replied with a small nod, “building eight.”

“Hey, me too!” Monty exclaimed as his eyes widened.

“Cool,” Lexa said with a small smile.

The fact that they had ended up in the same dormitory building on the expansive campus at Polis University was something of a coincidence, but it was one that Lexa certainly wasn't complaining about. There were ten dormitories in all, the first four of which were original to the campus when it was first built. Because the later dormitories were built with suites which included their own private bathrooms for only their two occupants to use, many students hoped to be housed in the newer buildings as opposed to the first four which had common bathrooms for the entire floor to share.

Although all of the buildings were coed, the rooms were not, and Lexa knew she wouldn't be sharing her suite with Monty. Suddenly thoughts about who would be her dormmate swirled around in her head as they continued their leisurely pace until they were just about to pass by a store Lexa and Monty had only ever been in once before when it had first opened. She stopped suddenly and turned to Monty, wordlessly signaling her desire to go in, and he just smiled and nodded before following her through the door.

“What are we looking for in here?” Monty asked as his eyes scanned all of the art supplies neatly displayed across every available inch of shelf pace in the cozy store.

“I don't know,” Lexa fibbed as she eyed Monty warily. “It's just... it's Clarke's birthday today...”

“Ah,” Monty began as he nodded his head once, “and you want to get her a present.”

“I just thought... I could give her something... when she comes home...” Lexa stumbled over her words as she fiddled with a small canvas she'd picked up from the shelf in front of her. “Is that dumb?”

“Of course not,” Monty replied quickly. “She'll probably like the fact that you remembered.”

Lexa just nodded in response and turned her attention back to a few of the hundreds of items arranged carefully around the store. She momentarily fought with herself about whether it was a good idea getting Clarke art supplies, not really knowing what she tended to use, but she continued searching the shelves regardless and finally decided on a small but very high quality pack of five varying sizes of paintbrushes before bringing them up to the cash register and paying for them somewhat hesitantly. She took a deep breath and grabbed her purchase from the counter before turning towards Monty and following him out of the store, all the while hoping as much as she possibly could that Clarke would like the gift.

T-minus five weeks until she would know for sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I find it almost impossible not to squeeze Aden into a story because he is just so darn cute and lovable ♥
> 
> I treasure your comments and always take the time to respond to each of you, so if you feel like sharing something about the story, the current chapter, want to ask a question, or all of the above... you are more than welcome to do that below! Thank you as always for reading.
> 
> (Find me on Twitter @MsDorisDaisy)


	3. Part Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 7/23/16: I just slightly edited the wording towards the end of the chapter because it wasn't quite sitting right with me and was begging for some polishing up. Nothing in the story/plot changed... just thought I'd give y'all a heads up if you are reading this for a second time... which I'd absolutely love you for :)

As the morning sun began to flood her bedroom through the shades she'd forgotten to draw the night before, Lexa felt her senses slowly come back to her while she drifted in the hazy state between dreamland and reality. She rolled lazily onto her stomach, bringing her blankets with her, and effectively blocked out the unwanted brightness by pulling her pillow over her head. A small smile broke out over her sleepy expression as she suddenly realized that she was officially an adult. It was finally her eighteenth birthday, not that she was desperate for anything the age freed with it, but she did feel a sense of accomplishment knowing that she had not only made it to adulthood but also had made it with minimal instances in her life she wished she'd have done differently.

A languid stretch of her muscles left her feeling deliciously relaxed, and she strained towards her bedside table as she grabbed for her phone to see if she had missed any calls or text messages from a particular blonde with whom she'd been conversing more often as the summer drew to a close. Before she left Clarke had requested they leave whatever it was that was blossoming between them until the end of summer, and it had been done. But at some point and for some reason, both of which were not entirely clear, they had been unable to resist checking in with one another at least once per day as the weeks went on.

**MsGriffster: Happy Birthday, Lexa!**

Her squinting eyes completely closed after reading the new text message, and Lexa had to physically stop herself from giggling like a giddy little girl (which she most certainly was not) before cracking one eye open just enough to read the message again. Her tongue poked out and quickly wet her lips, dry from the hours she'd just spent traversing her dreamland, and brought her finger to her screen to type out a reply.

**Lexa Woods: Thank you, Clarke :)**

It wasn't often that Lexa included emoticons in her messages, but she felt like throwing care to the wind that day and wanted Clarke to know just how happy she was to have woken up to the special message. She wondered what Clarke was out and about doing after realizing it was well into the afternoon for her, but before she could ask as much another message appeared on her screen.

**MsGriffster: What fun things do you have planned for your day?**

“Happy Birthday, little sister!” Anya shouted as she flung Lexa's bedroom door open with a loud thud.

“ _Fuck_ , Anya!” Lexa practically screamed as she clutched her chest in shock. “You scared the _shit_ out of me!”

“What is with you and your dirty mouth first thing in the morning?” Anya asked as she sauntered over to Lexa's bed and plopped rather unceremoniously onto it.

“Sorry, but I don't have time to put my filter in place when you decide to come barging into my room at such a depraved hour,” Lexa huffed out in annoyance, “which seems to be all too often lately.”

“I come bearing birthday gifts, and this is the thanks I get?” Anya shot back as she raised an eyebrow.

“I don't want gifts,” Lexa immediately responded. “I want to be able to sleep in to a reasonably late morning hour in peace as is every teenager's right.”

“You're not a teenager anymore, squid,” Anya argued as she moved to pinch Lexa's cheek.

“Don't call me that!” Lexa shrieked as she batted her sister's hand away. “And technically I still am.”

“No, you’re not,” Anya retorted.

“Yes, I am,” Lexa disagreed, “eigh _teen_.”

“ _Eighteen_ is an adult,” Anya replied dramatically.

“Which is why I said technically,” Lexa huffed as she rolled her eyes. “Do I need to buy you a dictionary?”

Anya answered the question with a sharp punch to Lexa’s shoulder and used the physical distraction to grab the younger girl’s cell phone from her hand. She pushed Lexa away from herself as Lexa proceeded to throw a small fit of protests and Anya greedily swiped her eyes across the screen, noticing immediately that the latest text message she was looking at was from Clarke.

“See? You weren’t even sleeping anyways,” Anya said as she jiggled the phone in her hand. “You were talking to your _girlfriend_.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Lexa heard herself say and immediately felt a small pang of disappointment in her chest.

“Let’s see if these other text messages beg to differ,” Anya said as she began scrolling up to read earlier messages.

“Anya!” Lexa yelled as she tried to grab for her phone.

“What?” Anya asked, feigning innocence until her expression turned to one of disgust. “Wait, you two weren’t sexting, were you?”

“What?!” Lexa exclaimed as he eyes widened comically. “No!”

Anya threw the phone down onto the bed between them quickly as if the device had been dipped in poison, and Lexa snatched it up immediately. She gripped it tightly and pulled her hands under her pillow before pushing her face into it and kicking her foot towards where her sister sat on the edge of her bed. Anya relented and pushed herself off the bed to stand next to her sister’s head so that she could lean over and quickly swipe the pillow out from under it.

“Be downstairs in thirty minutes or I’m coming back up and beating you to death with this,” Anya said as she held up the pillow briefly before turning on her heels and walking out.

Lexa let out a long sigh and closed her eyes for just a moment before her attention was drawn back to her phone. She still hadn’t responded to Clarke’s last text, and now Lexa had a vague but better idea of what was in store for her that day: relentless annoyance from her older sister and apparently some gifts. She unlocked her phone again and quickly typed out a response, hitting send quickly, before she hopped out of her bed and headed into her bathroom.

**Lexa Woods: Apparently I’m spending the day with my sister since she just came barging into my room and stole my pillow. Haven’t a clue what we’re doing yet though.**

**MsGriffster: You and Anya make having siblings sound like so much fun :)**

Lexa wrinkled her nose at that but realized that Clarke was speaking from the viewpoint of someone who was an only child. It was always interesting how what someone had and didn’t want, someone else wanted and didn’t have. Not to say that Lexa didn’t want an older sister, she just could do without the constant pestering that came along with being the younger of the two. When it came down to it though, Lexa loved Anya and that thought alone brought Lexa back into perspective as she willed herself to not let her older sister get the better of her; at least not on her eighteenth birthday.

**Lexa Woods: I guess that would depend on your definition of fun.**

**MsGriffster: She seems fun to me.**

**MsGriffster: And a little scary too.**

**MsGriffster: Top notch interrogation skills.**

Lexa’s heart stuttered in her chest as she read the text message chain from Clarke. It wasn’t the fact that three very short messages just came through individually when they could have easily been sent as one, something that Lexa had realized was annoying when it came from anyone other than Clarke, but it was the thought of her own sister barraging Clarke with a myriad of questions about who knows what that bothered her.

**Lexa Woods: When did she interrogate you?**

**MsGriffster: Prom night. She gave me the “what are your intentions with my sister” talk.**

Lexa closed her eyes and sighed after reading Clarke’s text. It was so _Anya_ to do that, and while it was slightly flattering that she had gone to such lengths to make sure Clarke was ‘honorable’ enough, the fact that she’d put Clarke through an interrogation was embarrassing. Much to the point that Lexa felt her fingers twitching with an apology, which she didn't hesitate to type out.

**Lexa Woods: I’m so sorry, Clarke. I had no idea she would do that. I’m so embarrassed.**

**MsGriffster: No need to be embarrassed, Lexa. She was just making sure that I was good enough for you. And I’m glad she found me acceptable because I had an amazing time with you that night.**

Lexa’s cheeks immediately darkened, and she drew her bottom lip into her mouth as her teeth clamped down on it lightly. That night had been the best night of Lexa’s life thus far and the mere memory of Clarke’s lips against her own was enough to spiral a swarm of butterflies around in Lexa’s stomach. She had replayed it in her mind over and over again, almost as if she didn’t it would somehow disappear altogether, and she never seemed to tire from the rush of emotions she felt each time it flashed across her mind. She honestly didn’t know if she would ever get another chance to kiss Clarke Griffin, but there wasn’t a single piece inside of her that didn’t wish she would.

**Lexa Woods: I had a good time with you too, Clarke.**

**MsGriffster: Just good?**

**MsGriffster: Not wonderful?**

**MsGriffster: Not splendid?**

**MsGriffster: Not incredible?**

**MsGriffster: Just good?**

Lexa’s giggling rolled into a genuine laugh as each message flashed across her screen in rapid succession until the final one had tickled her funny bone to the point of no return. As she thought carefully about how to answer, her butterflies increased tenfold, and she hovered her finger over the screen for a few seconds before typing. Another few seconds passed as she built up the tiniest amount of courage to hit the send button but finally pressed it.

**Lexa Woods: I had an amazing time as well, Clarke. I always do with you.**

**MsGriffster: Me too :) Next week can’t get here sooner...**

As if her head wasn’t already in the clouds, Lexa felt her entire being take up residence on cloud nine as she let her eyes flutter back and forth over Clarke’s words. The countdown had started, and Lexa knew better than anyone that Clarke was due to be back home in Arkadia on the Saturday following her birthday which meant that she just had to wait out another six full days until she was able to see Clarke again. That was if Clarke wanted to see her the day she got back. Lexa figured after almost three months in foreign countries that Clarke might just want to crash her first day back, and the theory made just enough sense for Lexa to use as an excuse to not make her feel disappointed if she didn’t get that call from Clarke next Saturday.

**Lexa Woods: I’m looking forward to seeing you too, Clarke.**

Just as she hit the send button, Lexa started to panic. She read Clarke’s last text message frantically, realizing that nowhere had Clarke mentioned that she was excited to see Lexa yet Lexa had just sent Clarke a text telling her she couldn’t wait to see her too. A wave of nausea washed over her while she waited for Clarke to respond, wondering if she had taken this long to respond to her other texts or if it just seemed to be taking infinitely longer because she was so nervous. After mentally kicking herself for assuming too much, Lexa sighed and tore her eyes away from the screen of her phone just long enough to feel the vibration of a new notification.

**MsGriffster: So... I feel a little awkward asking this but... have you been seeing anyone this summer?**

Lexa stared blankly at her phone, her mouth gaping in confusion, as she read Clarke's message over again. Was she actually being serious? Lexa shook her head lightly, in shock at the notion that Clarke had thought it was even possible for her to be dating someone else, anyone else. She swallowed thickly and hovered her hand above her screen, thinking out just the right thing to respond with that wouldn't make her seem to desperate or too aloof, but couldn't manage anything before Clarke was sending off messages in rapid succession once again.

**MsGriffster: It’s okay if you are...**

**MsGriffster: Maybe it’s none of my business...**

**MsGriffster: Just forget that I asked...**

A lump knotted in Lexa’s chest as she read through Clarke’s quick texts and began swiping her finger over the keyboard to interject as fast as possible.

**Lexa Woods: I’m not seeing anyone, Clarke. To be honest, I haven’t had much time between tutoring and warding off my sister to devote to anything else.**

She scrunched her brow slightly as she reread the response she’d just sent, realizing that it may not have been everything Clarke wanted to know. At least, that’s secretly what Lexa had hoped. She whipped her fingers around her screen and sent another message before Clarke could respond.

**Lexa Woods: I was also too preoccupied with the idea that you and I might be able to start back where we left off. If that’s something you wanted, of course.**

Her heartbeat thumped in her chest as she waited for a response, any response, to come through from Clarke.

**MsGriffster: You have no idea how much I want that, Woods.**

A grin that could only be described as ridiculous broke out over Lexa’s face as she let Clarke’s words sink in and didn’t even notice the sound of footsteps stop just on the other side of the open bathroom door.

“ _Lexa_!” Anya yelled, clearly exasperated as she propped her hands high on her hips.

If Lexa hadn’t been leaning up against the counter, she would have jumped a foot in the air at the sound of her sister’s voice but instead she jolted in shock and looked over at Anya with her eyes wide, her mouth agape, and her heart racing.

“I’m not waiting forever for you,” Anya said harshly as she snapped her fingers, “so move your ass!”

Lexa huffed out a sigh and reached for the door before slamming it closed and proceeded to rid herself of her sleep clothes and hop into the shower. She barely heard Anya’s ‘I meant it’ warning from the other side of the door and was sure she didn’t care before losing herself to another goofy grin as her mind wandered to daydreams about reuniting with Clarke in six days.

* * *

 

“The Birthday Queen has decided to honor us with her presence,” Anya announced as Lexa came strolling into the kitchen with her hair still damp but otherwise put together for the day.

“The Birthday Queen does not approve of sarcasm first thing in the morning,” Lexa replied, “or of stealing her pillow.”

Anya glared. Lexa stuck out her tongue. Anya rolled her eyes.

“Alright you two,” Gustus interrupted as he turned to them with a giant steaming pile of pancakes stacked on a large serving plate, “try not to bicker too much during the royal birthday breakfast or the chef will have both your heads.”

Lexa bit back a smile at her father’s attempt to join in on the joke, and she sat down at her usual spot around the table. There were three place settings neatly laid out with yellow cloth napkins boldly popping against the stark white plates they were folded on top of. Silverware rested on the sides of each plate, along with small juice glasses, and there was a bouquet of pale yellow peonies arranged in a vase sitting on the middle of the table. In the fourth spot where an empty chair was pushed up to, a small pile of gifts were arranged along with two cards Lexa could only assume were from her father and her sister. A prickling of tears behind her eyes managed to remain as much, and Lexa swallowed against the growing lump in her throat as she took in everything before her.

“Happy Birthday,” Anya said with a playful glare and a smirk.

“Thanks,” Lexa replied bashfully as a soft blush crept up her cheeks.

They all unfolded their napkins and tucked them into their laps before loading their plates full of pancakes, breakfast potatoes, fruit of pretty much every kind, and bacon. Heavenly, wonderful, delicious bacon. Lexa’s nose filled with the scent as she brought a crispy piece to her mouth and hummed in contentment as she munched on the bite she’d taken. Gustus smiled at the innocence of Lexa’s expression but said nothing before returning his attention back to his own breakfast and eating for a few minutes in silence.

“So what are you doing here anyways?” Lexa asked Anya as she swallowed a bite of pancake. “I mean, besides celebrating the life of your incredible sister.”

“Isn’t that enough?” Anya quipped as she raised an eyebrow playfully.

“It is,” Lexa agreed with a small shrug before spearing a cut strawberry onto her fork and popping it into her mouth.

“Actually, I’m kidnapping you for the day,” Anya announced and Lexa looked up at her with a surprised expression on her face. “Dad’s cool with it.”

Lexa chewed her strawberry silently and flicked her gaze over to her father who just smiled and shrugged.

“And what will you be making me do exactly?” Lexa asked warily.

“I’m not _making_ you do anything,” Anya responded dryly. “This is something you’re going to _want_ to do. Trust me.”

“Famous last words,” Lexa said under her breath which made her father chuckle. “So what is it?”

“Gifts first,” Gustus ordered with a simple nod of his head.

Lexa’s eyes landed on the opposite side of the table where her presents were and suddenly felt quite eager to open them. There were four packages, all ranging in sizes, beautifully wrapped in floral printed wrapping paper and adorned with matching bows. She knew immediately that Anya had done the honors, given that something so intricate wouldn’t have looked half as professional if done by her father’s large and sometimes clumsy hands. Lexa never allowed herself to expect anything as far as gifts on her birthday, but it was a tradition she’d certainly enjoyed over the years nevertheless. She could never manage to thank her gift-givers enough after unwrapping that sweatshirt she’d had her eye on, or an astronomy book she’d been coveting, or the beautiful leather bound journal she’d gotten the one time from Anya. Her gifts were never lavish but were always thoughtful, and that was what meant the most to Lexa anyways.

“Here, get the boring stuff out of the way,” Anya said as she handed the cards to Lexa.

The card from Anya was of course humorous, at least to Anya, but left Lexa blushing after she’d read the slightly inappropriate sisterly advice that Anya had scribbled inside and made certain to make no efforts to pass the card over to her father. Instead she shoved it back into its envelope before casting a pointed gaze over at her giggling sister and tried to cool her heated cheeks as she tore open the card from her father. His card was a mix between serious and humorous and left Lexa smiling until she saw the one hundred dollar bill tucked behind a small tab on the left side of the card.

“Dad,” Lexa began to protest.

“It’s your birthday, Lexa,” Gustus interrupted, “and I can give you whatever I want.”

Lexa sighed softly and nodded, not wanting to question her father’s generosity but also feeling somewhat guilty for receiving such a large amount of cash on top of the gifts she had yet to open. She barely had time to think more about it before a long rectangular box was set in front of her by Anya, and she lifted her hands to it to begin carefully unwrap it. When she realized what it was, her movement quickened just slightly before her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

She’d only ever dreamed of having a professional zoom lens for her camera, knowing it would take her the better part of a summer tutoring to save up for it, but it was the specific model of lens that made her pause. Lexa knew her family was more than aware of her photography hobby, but they weren’t as versed in it as Lexa was. An uneasiness settled in her stomach as she read through the compatible models listed on the box and confirmed her thought that this particular lens wouldn’t fit on her camera. Lexa knew she’d have to tell them so that she could return it, but suddenly she didn’t have the heart to when she looked up to see their smiling expressions undoubtedly proud of their choice of gift.

“Are you going to say anything?” Anya finally broke the silence. “I went to three different stores for that thing. You can’t find it anywhere online for even a remotely reasonable price.”

“It’s a good one, right?” Gustus asked excitedly, and Lexa felt her guilt sink even more.

“Yeah,” she managed to choke out, “it’s one of the best on the market.”

“Good because that's what we were going for,” Anya replied as she reached for another gift and plopped it down in front of Lexa.

She didn’t see her sister and father share a knowing smirk as she tentatively reached forward to begin unwrapping her second gift with just as much care as before, this time revealing a shiny box that appeared to contain a powerful macro lens and a fisheye lens if the images printed onto the thick cardboard were anything to go by. Again Lexa let her eyes fall to the compatibility list and cringed internally when she realized she’d have to exchange that gift as well.

“This is... too much...” Lexa finally decided on as she looked between the two boxes containing three professional camera lenses that alone cost several hundred dollars, not taking into consideration the two other gifts still to be unwrapped and the cash in the card from her father.

“Dad was feeling generous, and I have a grown up job now,” Anya said with a shrug, “so just ride the wave, squid.”

Lexa’s eyes snapped up towards her sister just before another gift was shoved under her hands. She’d barely had enough time to convey her thanks, hearing herself mutter a small ‘thank you’ mixed with a ‘but it’s still too much’ as she picked at the wrapping paper on her third gift. Thankfully what she revealed was a new camera bag, something with which compatibility didn’t matter, and Lexa found herself smiling from ear to ear as she rotated in her hands and fiddled with all of the pockets and pouches for a few minutes before the last gift was slowly pushed up to her.

Her mind swirled with so many thoughts as her chest filled with more emotions than she originally thought she’d have that morning, but Lexa pushed them far enough away to continue onto her last gift and ripped the paper with a little less care than she previously had. What peeked out at her from a thin strip of paper torn away was something that looked an awful lot like an image of a camera body. She froze in her seat, again not noticing the playful glances and smirks going back and forth between her father and sister, and swallowed almost nervously as she finally moved her fingers back to tear more of the paper from the box beneath it.

“What...”

“It was my idea to save the best for last,” Anya said in a low voice.

“A–are you... serious?” Lexa asked, completely in shock of what she’d just opened.

“Yes!” Anya defended herself jokingly. “I do have good ideas from time to time, you know.”

Gustus chuckled and trained his gaze onto Lexa’s dumbfounded expression as she stared down at the box now clear of its wrapping.

“No, I mean...” Lexa began as she shook her head, “...are you serious right now... with this?”

“I never know if Anya is serious or not, but I certainly am,” Gustus replied as he leaned back in his chair with an amused smile on his lips.

“Is this really what’s in here?” Lexa asked stupidly, thinking maybe there was a chance she was being pranked.

“Yes, it’s a new camera, dummy,” Anya finally interjected. “You didn’t think we got you all the wrong parts to go on your old hunk of junk, did you?”

“It’s not a hunk of junk,” Lexa quickly replied, though she thought better of her own statement as she took another glance down to the newest model in her hands at that moment.

“It was time for an upgrade,” Gustus chimed in.

No sooner did he stop speaking that tears flooded Lexa’s eyes and spilled down her cheeks. She shook her head from side to side, clearly overwhelmed with the extravagance of the gifts in front of her and parted her lips shakily.

“This is way too much,” she finally said between her tears, “I can’t take all of this.”

“Well, it was either this or a super crappy car,” Anya informed her sister, “and I think you got the better end of the deal.”

Lexa lifted her glistening gaze towards her father, as if asking him if what Anya had said was true, and she watched as he gave her a short nod and a loving smile before she was reaching out and wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him into a hug. His arms settled around her waist snuggly, and they sat in silence for a few moments before Lexa whispered ‘I love you’ into his ear and pulled away. She turned over to see her sister blinking back her own tears before wrapping her up in an equally crushing hug and buried her face into Anya’s hair. When Lexa sniffled into the space just below Anya’s right ear, the older girl tipped her head away and opened her mouth to speak.

“Don’t you _dare_ get snot on my shirt,” Anya warned which earned a hearty chuckle from Gustus and a playful shove from Lexa.

After getting over the initial, and then lingering, shock of just having received an entirely new and professional photography set up, Anya finally announced to Lexa that she was taking her on a day trip to a particular park she’d heard Lexa gush about more times than she could count, the younger girl claiming every time that it was the best place in the state to find a little bit of every kind of nature. Lexa practically squealed at the revelation and ran upstairs to get her things together for the day.

The entire drive was spent in relative silence but for Anya humming along to the radio and Lexa delighting in each new feature she discovered while getting her camera set up and ready for a busy day of hiking and sightseeing. It was one of the best birthdays she’d ever had, and Lexa was beyond thrilled to have gotten the opportunity to capture all of the memories of that afternoon spent over ‘obsessive picture taking and sisterly bonding or whatever’ as Anya had so eloquently phrased it.

* * *

 

Clarke’s shriek echoed throughout the huge, empty throne room of the castle she and her father were supposed to be touring followed quickly by a loud snort that bubbled up from Clarke’s throat before she and her father both lost themselves into a fit of giggles, finally ending as they clutched onto each other desperately and steadied their backs against the cool stone walls behind them. Clarke had wandered off from their guided tour when a large and intricate painting had caught her eye, thinking there was no harm in sneaking off to take a quick peek and returning to the group before they’d even noticed she had gone. What she didn’t realize was that Jake had seen the quick flash of blonde hair disappear around a large pillar and had followed Clarke silently into the empty room in an attempt to scare the living daylights out of her the minute he felt she was engrossed enough into the painting she was admiring. And, boy, did he ever.

“All guests must accompany the guide for the entire duration of the tour,” the grumpy man who’d first introduced himself as Johann told the wandering pair, appearing as if out of nowhere.

“Yes, of course,” Jake replied in his most serious tone and nodded once at the man.

Clarke straightened her shirt and pushed herself off the wall, chewing on her bottom lip as she passed by the man so that she wouldn’t burst out laughing again, and followed behind her father casually as they made their way back towards the tour group. They took position at the back of the crowd of excited tourists and Clarke watched out of the corner of her eye as Jake leaned down towards her and whispered in her ear.

“Could you imagine if we would’ve had to tell your mother we were banned from a castle in Germany while she wasn’t here to chaperone us?” He asked through a smirk.

“It’s not my fault you decided to scare the sh–crap out of me,” Clarke whispered back but corrected herself from swearing when she locked eyes with an annoyed tourist. “I would have been back to the group before anyone noticed I was gone.”

“ _I_ noticed,” Jake whispered back, wanting to get a rise out of his daughter.

“Well, you have a weird sixth sense about stuff like that,” Clarke huffed. “I swear, you must have taken lessons from Mom or something. I can never get away with anything with the two of you watching me.”

“Oh, and what do you have to get away with?” Jake asked unimpressed.

Clarke scoffed and tilted her face towards her father before crossing her arms. She wasn’t one to break rules, although bending them wasn’t totally outside of her area of expertise, but Clarke never found it too necessary to do much of anything behind her parents’ backs. Mainly because she didn’t really have the desire to do what was worthy of keeping from her parents. Jake lifted an eyebrow as he waited for his flustered daughter to answer.

“Stuff,” Clarke replied defiantly as she shrugged, and Jake just rolled his eyes.

“Right,” Jake answered and was about to elaborate when the voice of the tour guide cut him short.

“All discussions should be held until the passing between exhibits or until the end of the tour as to not distract other guests,” he spoke loudly as he looked between the blonde and her father.

Jake shoved his hands in his pockets while Clarke tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, but neither of them said anything before the tour guide continued with his presentation as if nothing had happened. A small jab of Jake’s elbow to his daughter’s side got him an even harder jab from Clarke’s elbow to his own ribs. They traded playful slaps to each other’s arms just once before the same grumpy tourist turned around and shot them another glare, and when father and daughter caught each other’s gaze they both snorted out laugh before covering their mouths quickly and avoiding eye contact for the rest of the tour.

When the crisp afternoon air hit her rosy cheeks, Clarke grinned and closed her eyes wistfully as she and Jake made their way out of the castle they'd just toured, if you could call sneaking away and getting caught and giggling like little children a tour, and they settled to an easy pace as they walked through the beautifully landscaped courtyard at the front of the not-so-humble estate. It was nearing lunchtime and Clarke's stomach reminded her of that fact very loudly as they continued their walk, suddenly feeling quite happy that she wasn't helpless to her stomach noises in front of the tourists who'd already shown their distaste in her earlier.

“We should have a picnic!” Clarke suddenly exclaimed as she grabbed her father's forearm tightly.

“A picnic?” Jake asked as he tilted his head towards Clarke.

“Yeah, we can find some American food... like _sandwiches_ ,” Clarke explained enthusiastically, “and find a cool park or monument or something and have a picnic there.”

“Are you already sick of the wursts and krauts?” Jake teased as he nudged his daughter's side.

“A little,” Clarke confessed with a shrug, “plus I'm totally craving a sandwich now.”

Jake just chuckled in response but eventually agreed after Clarke took it upon herself to describe the most mouthwatering sounding sandwich and quickly drove them to a nearby market to gather the ingredients they needed. They were able to find a few other treats to go along with their sandwich supplies and headed out towards what the market's supervisor had deemed as the most beautiful park in the area. It was indeed one of the most incredible scenic views Clarke had ever experienced, and she couldn't help the way her eyes darted around as they tried to take in every new sight at the same time.

On the far right was a lush and manicured garden with flowers as far as the eye could see with perfectly trimmed trees sporadically placed along the pathway winding through the lawn. Benches sat alongside the pathways as well, and people of all ages were seen casually lounging on them as smaller children weaved carelessly throughout the flowering bushes only to be called back by their parents after they'd journeyed too far. A stream broke the park in half, and on the far left side was a small pond that was shaded by the canopies of enormous matured trees whose branches had grown together and tangled to form an even tighter roof above the water.

“That guy at the market wasn't kidding,” Jake breathed out in wonder as he let his own gaze travel from the far left to the far right and back to the left again.

“Should we find a bench?” Clarke asked as she eyed the area to her right.

“Let's sit by the pond,” Jake suggested but paused until Clarke offered her agreement.

They found what appeared to be the only empty bench on that side of the park and quickly took residence upon it, spending some time spreading out all of their sandwich supplies atop the paper shopping bags the market had packed their food into. After their sandwiches had been adequately constructed, they leaned back and munched happily on their lunch, chatting lightly between bites but spending more time enjoying the scenery than anything else.

“So, Clarke,” Jake began suddenly, “how are things going?”

“What do you mean?” Clarke asked casually as she looked down at the last bit of her sandwich and took another bite.

“You know, things,” Jake pressed vaguely.

“Things?” Clarke asked through her mouthful of food.

“Things, life,” Jake continued. “What are your hopes and fears for your first year of college?”

“My hopes and fears?” Clarke questioned as she raised an eyebrow. “Did mom tell you to ask me this?”

Jake let out a small scoff of disapproval and shook his head lightly.

“No, Clarke,” he said with his best imitation of a fatherly voice, “I thought of that question all on my own.”

A giggle bubbled up from Clarke’s chest and she looked over to her father who was smiling as well. It wasn’t often that she and her dad would talk about hopes and dreams and the big picture of life, but Clarke wasn’t totally opposed to the idea. She had talked a few times with her mom about what she wanted for her future, but that was mainly because she had wanted help on deciding on a University major. _That_ was a nerve-wracking conversation. Clarke had been avoiding it like the plague, worried that her mother wouldn’t embrace the fact that her only child wouldn’t want to follow in either of her parents’ footsteps, but Abby had been a fountain of understanding. It had certainly made their bond stronger, and maybe that was what her father was after too.

“Sorry,” Clarke finally offered before taking a deep breath as she contemplated her answers to his question. “So, hopes and fears?”

Jake nodded but remained silent.

“I hope to make a name for myself in the art department at Polis U during my first year,” Clarke began quietly. “If I have any chance to be considered for the fourth year apprenticeship program, I need to _really_ impress my professors right from the beginning.”

“What’s the apprenticeship program?” Jake wondered aloud. “Have you told me about this before?”

“No, I haven’t talked about it much because I just didn’t want to get my hopes up,” Clarke explained with a small shrug of her shoulders. “It’s pretty incredible though. If I would even make it, the program head hand picks five students from the apprenticeship to showcase one of their pieces at this big art gala that’s held each year in some of the most famous art galleries throughout the country. You’re pretty much guaranteed a contact in the art world if you make it to that event, so it’s obviously something I really want to be a part of.”

“Wow, that sounds like an incredible opportunity,” Jake replied genuinely.

“It is,” Clarke said through a nod, “I just... like I said... don’t want to get my hopes up.”

“You’re a very talented artist, Clarke,” Jake assured his daughter as he rested his hand gently against her forearm.

“Thanks, but I know you have to say that,” Clarke told him with a smile in her eyes, “you’re my dad.”

“That’s true, I am,” Jake replied with a nod. “Just do me a favor and remember that no matter what, whether you get into this apprenticeship program or not, I’m incredibly proud of you. You’ve always followed your heart, in everything you’ve done, and _that_ will take you far.”

Clarke’s flicked her gaze over to her father, who was smiling brightly at her, and she let a smile of her own tease the corners of her mouth before teasing him that he was being a total sap. It wasn’t long before their usual slapstick bantering was back in its full swing as they continued their conversation for another long while. It was something Clarke was eternally grateful for, the ability to talk easily with her father about almost anything and everything, and she kept having to shake the remorse she felt each time she thought about having to live apart from him when college started in just a few short weeks.

It was most likely a feeling that would end up shaking itself the more her life away from her parents became routine, but it certainly didn’t make for a bit of nervousness settling in Clarke’s stomach all that surprising. She was lucky enough to be attending the University of her choice with her best friend, and Clarke almost couldn’t contain herself knowing that she’d be seeing Lexa far more often than she ever had since she was also attending Polis University. At least Clarke _hoped_ they would be seeing more of each other.

“Where are you?” Jake asked, effectively breaking Clarke from her apparent daze. “You’re thinking about your girl, aren’t you?”

“What?” Clarke squeaked in embarrassment as her cheeks began to flush. “No, I... don’t know what you’re talking about...”

“Don’t think I can’t see that blush on your cheeks,” Jake teased his daughter as he drove towards their hotel.

“I’ve literally just been sitting here,” Clarke argued as she motioned to her side of the vehicle. “How can you possibly know what I’ve been thinking about?”

“You get the same goofy look on your face when you think about her as you do when you talk about her too,” Jake explained with a smirk.

Clarke scrunched her eyebrows together and folded her arms across her chest. “I do not.”

“You do too!” Jake exclaimed as he practically jumped in his seat.

“I do _not_ ,” Clarke retorted, “and she’s not even my girl anyways.”

That wasn’t a lie. As much as Clarke _wanted_ Lexa to be her girlfriend, she wasn’t. Not yet anyways. Just the thought of the brunette swirling around her mind made Clarke unknowingly break into a grin which, unfortunately for her, Jake saw immediately and made sure to comment on it.

“See?” Jake asked teasingly. “Your face is all goofy again!”

“It’s not goofy!” Clarke shouted back. “You know what? _Your_ face is goofy!”

He glanced over just in time to see Clarke sticking her tongue out at him, and he lost himself to a joyous bout of laughter. Hoping that his daughter would eventually open up a little bit about her relationship, or lack thereof, he decided not to press on and simply waited for her to bring up the topic herself when she felt comfortable. Little did he know that when she did, which just so happened to be later that evening, he would find himself learning more about Lexa Woods than he ever thought was possible in the span of just a couple of hours before they both turned in for the night as exhaustion took its final hold.

* * *

 

To say Lexa wasn’t disappointed would be a fib, more of an outright lie, but she understood. Clarke’s flight back home had been delayed by several hours which, in turn, forced Lexa to wait an entire extra day to see the person she’d longed to see more than anyone else. Lexa had an inkling that her anxiety which had been building steadily over the past week wouldn’t magically disappear the moment she saw Clarke again, but it would most likely give way to a few other welcomed emotions regardless. As she sat at her kitchen table finishing up Aden’s final tutoring session for the summer, Lexa did all she could manage not to let her thoughts about the blonde interfere with the lesson she was trying to teach.

“You see?” Lexa asked as a smile hinted on her lips. “If you put enough effort into running example problems as you do building your castle, you’ll be at the top of your class in no time.”

Aden said nothing, but the faint dusting of pink on the tops of his cheeks told Lexa everything that she needed to know. After closing up their textbooks and tidying up everything they’d laid out on the tabletop, Lexa grabbed two popsicles (as was their tradition now) and walked the young man outside before taking a seat next to him on the edge of the porch. They rested their feet against the top step that lead to the yard just a few feet below and munched on their icy treats, chatting about their summers, the upcoming school year, and Aden’s castle game until it was just about time for his mother to be pulling up. Lexa sensed a bit of nervousness from the boy as he finally laid eyes on the shiny black car they both recognized, but he was standing to his feet and facing Lexa with his hands clasped nervously in front of him before Lexa could even react to what was happening.

“I just wanted to thank you for helping me this summer,” Aden said before glancing over his shoulder quickly.

“You’re welcome, Aden,” Lexa replied with a small smile on her face.

“I, um...” Aden began nervously as he glanced back at his mother’s car now parked in the driveway, “I have something for you, so just wait a second...”

Lexa opened her mouth to respond but didn’t have nearly enough time to before Aden was dashing over to the passenger side of the vehicle and reaching in through the window his mother had just lowered. When she saw him turn around with a small potted cactus and what looked to be a greeting card sealed in an envelope, Lexa bit her bottom lip shyly and stood from her seated position on the edge of her porch as Aden came walking back towards her, already extending the gift and card before he was even within proper range of her.

“This is from me,” Aden clarified as he looked down at the hand holding the small clay pot. “My mom helped me pick it out, and she said you could keep it in your dorm room if you wanted.”

“I will,” Lexa said with a grateful smile as she reached for it, “and maybe I’ll learn a few more things about cacti this way.”

Aden smiled and nodded proudly, as if he was sure Lexa had liked the gesture. She took the card from him next and leaned forward to give the young boy a hug as best she could with full hands before he backed up, threw her a small wave, and hopped into the car. His mother waved and smiled knowingly at Lexa, and Lexa did her best not to look too bashful as she waved back and turned to head back into her house when the car began reversing down her driveway.

**MsGriffster: Good morning :)**

After the initial excitement surged through her chest at seeing Clarke’s text message pop up on her phone screen, Lexa let out a small laugh and quickly typed out a response as she climbed the staircase to her bedroom.

**Lexa Woods: It’s four in the afternoon, Clarke.**

**MsGriffster: Oh yeah, oops! I slept for like fourteen hours last night.**

**MsGriffster: I don’t think my body is quite used to the time change yet.**

Although she had never traveled outside of the country before, Lexa knew the general concept of jet lag and figured Clarke would be suffering from that for at least her first day back home. She set the small cactus plant down on the thick sill of her window before plopping down on her bed and tearing open the envelope Aden had given to her as well. It was indeed a thank you card with a small paragraph written by Aden’s mother along with a fifty dollar bill as an ‘extra bonus’ as was specified in the note. A smile found its way back to Lexa’s lips as she felt her heart swell with appreciation at the gesture and made a mental note to send Aden's mother a proper thank you card. And it was only a short moment later when Lexa got excited for an entirely different reason when she looked down to see another message from Clarke appear on her phone.

**MsGriffster: Do you want to come over?**

The actual act of replying didn’t even cross Lexa’s mind, and she felt her heart lurch in her chest. The day had finally come when they would meet again, and it was just about the most excited that Lexa had ever felt in her life. With her body barely able to keep up with the demands of her brain, Lexa launched herself from her bed and all but ran into her bathroom to make sure she looked halfway acceptable. A quick but thorough brush of her teeth and tousle of her hair later, Lexa found herself back in her bedroom and gathering her things before heading out. She made sure to grab the small gift she’d gotten for Clarke as a belated birthday present and surely enough felt her chest begin to tighten with the uncertainty of Clarke’s reaction to it.

The walk between their houses seemed to drag on for far longer than Lexa thought it could while the anticipation of seeing the blonde after so many months apart was gnawing relentlessly at her with each step she took. Lexa paused her strides as she looked up to see herself only a few houses away from her final destination and after taking a few deep breaths as she tried to calm the loudness of her thoughts, she continued on until she found herself walking across the Griffins’ porch and standing outside of their front door.

With clammy and trembling hands, Lexa hesitantly found the doorbell and it pushed in under the weight of her thumb. Her heart thumped in time with the footsteps she heard coming closer to her from the other side of the door, and it was only when Lexa noticed a flash of brown hair did it dawn on her that since she was at Clarke’s house it meant that she might actually need to speak to someone other than Clarke herself. She hadn’t mentally prepared anything to say on her walk over, something that would have normally served to calm her anxiety to a manageable degree, and the realization that she would have to come up with something off the top of her head just made her all the more nervous.

“Hi, Dr. Griffin,” Lexa stated the moment she was greeted with Abby’s smiling face.

She almost stopped for a moment to congratulate herself on delivering such a smooth and natural greeting but thought better of it after blinking a few times to clear her train of thoughts.

“I’m Lexa Woods,” she continued, “Clarke invited me over.”

“Lexa,” Abby finally said through a light chuckle, “I know who you are. You’re in all of Clarke’s prom pictures, remember?”

_Oh. Right._

“Oh, right,” Lexa spoke straight from her thoughts.

“Come in,” Abby said with a smile as she took Lexa's wrist gently and ushered her inside.

While Abby stepped behind her to close the front door, Lexa let her eyes dance nervously around the grand entryway she was now standing in the middle of. It was much more eye-catching than her own at home, but there was nothing overly lavish or flashy about it. The tall ceilings above her head held a softly dimmed chandelier type light fixture which cast a warm hue against the richly colored hardwood floors under her feet. A large staircase stood in front of her and hugged tightly against the wall to her left before curving to the right as it met the second level.

“For the record,” Abby broke the silence, “I would have remembered you even without the pictures.”

A shy smile spread itself across Lexa's face as Abby winked at her before letting her know that Clarke was upstairs in her bedroom. After a deep breath stretched her lungs, Lexa began up the stairs and couldn't help but admire a few of the framed family pictures lining the wall as she went. One image in particular drew Lexa's attention, and she hovered for a moment as she let her eyes settle on an eight-year-old Clarke and an eight-year-old Octavia with smears of brightly colored paint all over their faces and grinning like they hadn't a care in the world. Their smiles caused Lexa to smile, and she suddenly couldn't help but want to see even more pictures of the spirited blonde when she was little. That would be for another time, however.

During the second half of her climb up the staircase, Lexa found herself feeling eager enough to take them two at a time but she paced herself and continued to take each one individually until she had reached the top. She mentally counted the first two doors, as if the simple number would have stumped her otherwise, as Abby had instructed and slowly walked to close the distance between herself and Clarke's bedroom.

The heavy wooden door was already propped open and when she stepped cautiously up to the threshold, she saw Clarke on her floor and hunched over a sizable pile of long pieces of wood and about ten separate plastic packets of what looked to be screws, nuts, hinges, and other hardware. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun, but a few traitorous curly blonde locks that refused to stay in place dangled around Clarke's face as her attention remained fixated on the unfolded instruction sheet resting on the floor just in front of her. The two small steps Lexa took into the bedroom went unnoticed by Clarke, and it wasn't until the brunette finally spoke that Clarke realized she wasn't alone.

“Clarke?”

“ _Holy hell_ , you scared me!” Clarke blurted out as she slapped a hand over her chest to calm her frantic heartbeat after being accidentally startled.

“I'm sorry,” Lexa began to say as her own heart stuttered from a combination of Clarke's surprise and the simple fact of Clarke's presence so close to her after so long apart.

“It's fine, Lexa,” Clarke said through a breathy laugh. “Don’t worry about it.”

She pushed herself into a standing position and adjusted the front of her shirt as she looked over at Lexa for a moment with a slightly flustered expression still on her face. It wasn't a second later that Clarke seemed to realize that she was actually there, Lexa was actually standing right in front of her, they were finally together after spending months apart, and she moved to wrap her arms tightly around Lexa's neck in an embrace that surprised even herself in its intensity. Lexa's arms swooped around Clarke's waist just a moment later, and they stood for what seemed like forever yet not even close to long enough, breathing in each other's scent, memorizing the feel of their bodies pressed so closely together, and each secretly wishing they would never have to let the other go.

“Hi,” Clarke hummed into Lexa's neck as they continued to hug.

“Hi,” Lexa replied quietly.

Her anxiety over the situation suddenly seemed to dissipate the second she felt Clarke's arms around her, and Lexa felt herself falling into a momentary calmness she’d never quite experienced before. They continued gripping onto each other for a few more seconds before Lexa felt Clarke finally pull back only to quickly step around her and close the bedroom door before grabbing her hand and leading her over to her bed. While Lexa followed behind Clarke willingly, she glanced down at the floor again as they maneuvered around the wood and hardware, both making sure to avoid stepping on anything.

“What is all of that?” Lexa asked quietly as she pointed to the floor before mimicking Clarke to sit on the edge of her bed.

“Oh, it’s an art easel,” Clarke explained as she made herself comfortable by crossing her legs pretzel style. “My parents got it for me while we were in Paris. It’s authentic! A famous Parisian carpenter made it, and I guess it’s like one of the best ones you can even buy.”

Lexa nodded as she continued scanning the pieces of wood scattered across the floor and was wracking her brain for something –anything– to respond with, but her lack of knowledge regarding the art world was great and she didn’t want to say anything that might make her sound stupid. As if Clarke knew the moment Lexa began overthinking, she opened her mouth to speak.

“So tell me about your summer,” Clarke said with a genuine smile on her face.

Lexa couldn’t help but stare at them; the soft pink lips she’d dreamed so often about turned up at the ends as it brightened Clarke’s entire expression simply by being there. To make sure she didn’t spend too long looking at Clarke’s mouth, Lexa blinked a few times and shifted her gaze back down to her hands which were fiddling with the gift she didn’t actually realize was even there at that moment as she thought long and hard about how to reply.

“It was alright,” Lexa finally decided on.

“Lexa,” Clarke warned gently. “We haven’t seen each other in months, and I want to know how your summer went. You’re going to have to use more words than that.”

Lexa smiled shyly and tried to control the way her heart jumped when she felt Clarke reach out with one of her hands and wind their fingers together. She pushed her glasses up her nose and tucked a few stray hairs behind her ear before continuing to describe her summer. The summer that had, in all honestly been alright, but it lacked the person Lexa had most wanted to spend time with so it made everything seem just a bit less exciting. She didn’t want it to sound like she hadn’t had a good time _at all_ or risk Clarke feeling guilty about her own fun times she’d had across the world, so Lexa took a small breath and mustered up enough enthusiasm to sell her stories.

“Well, I was busy with tutoring once every week until a few days ago,” Lexa explained. “This summer I worked with a student named Aden. He showed a lot of growth by the end of our time together.”

Suddenly not sure whether Clarke would even want to hear about one of her tutoring students’ potential, Lexa swallowed nervously and flicked her gaze over to Clarke and the two sat in silence for just a split second.

“Which subject did you tutor him in?” Clarke asked, genuinely curious.

“Math,” Lexa replied quickly.

“Oh, excellent,” Clarke said as a mischievous smile crept onto her face, “so when I have trouble with the stupid algebra class I have to take, now I’ll know who to ask for help.”

The excitement that ran through her body at the thought of helping Clarke in one of her classes made it impossible for Lexa not to smile, and she did so, widely, for a few seconds as she imagined the two of them sitting closely together in the University library as they hunched over textbooks and notepads. Or maybe they would find themselves in one of their dorm rooms, huddled on the bed against the pillows propped up along the wall as their knees touched and their hands casually brushed, accidentally of course, every once in a while. Yep, college was going to be just about the best time in Lexa’s life ever.

“Anyways,” Lexa finally broke herself out of her daydreams, “besides tutoring, I spent a lot of time with Monty. We even watched the Nexus Rover launch for a second time.”

Clarke let a gentle grin fall onto her lips as she looked over at the sweetest and most nerdy human being she’d ever met in her life and had to physically stop herself from reaching up and brushing her fingers against Lexa’s cheek. Instead she just gave Lexa’s hand a small squeeze, and the two shared a smile before Lexa broke their silence.

“Tell me about your summer,” Lexa said quietly.

“It was incredible,” Clarke replied immediately. “I mean... it was long and getting to sleep in my own bed last night for the first time in months was pretty much the best feeling ever, but I did have a lot of fun while I was away.”

Lexa smiled and gave Clarke a small nod, signaling for her to continue which Clarke had no problem doing.

“There’s so much history over there, it’s incredible,” Clarke gushed. “Obviously you know that since you took history class, but actually seeing it an experiencing it is _amazing_.”

“What was your favorite country to visit?” Lexa chanced a question.

“Country? Probably Germany,” Clarke explained. “But Paris was, by far, my favorite city. The food there was _so good_.”

“Better than the hotdogs at the baseball game?” Lexa asked, even amusing herself with her own question.

“Oh, ha ha,” Clarke articulated with a roll of her eyes as Lexa beamed with a prideful smile, “plus I already told you that the hotdogs seemed better because of the _experience_ of the baseball game and who I was with at the time.”

Lexa’s smile slowly made way for a blush to heat her cheeks as Clarke fidgeted with the hand in her own before looking down at her lap and pulling her lower lip into her mouth to bite nervously. Another comfortable silence fell between the two as they sat together, Clarke’s right hand in Lexa’s left, until Clarke finally spotted the small package in Lexa’s lap. It was wrapped in brown paper and had a thin red and white string tied around it into a neat bow, and Clarke assumed it was some type of gift but didn’t want to assume it was for her. Yet as her curiosity got the best of her, Clarke heard herself asking about it just a few seconds later.

“What’s that?” She questioned softly as she pointed towards Lexa’s lap.

It was almost like Lexa had forgotten it was even there, Clarke thought, and she watched as the brunette’s expression changed from comfortable to incredibly nervous in an instant as she reached down for it and held it carefully in her free hand.

“It’s, um,” Lexa tripped over her words, “I got you a gift. For your birthday. Belated birthday.”

If she could have slapped herself for being so lame, she would have but the rosiness of Clarke’s cheeks was the only thing Lexa could focus on from the very moment she noticed it. She extended the gift towards Clarke who disconnected their joined hands to take it, and Lexa immediately felt disappointed in the loss of warmth that had been surrounding it. She fidgeted with her hands on her lap and felt her heart begin to race as Clarke looked down at the small gift with a smile on her face.

“It’s just something small,” Lexa added with an equally small voice.

“I see that,” Clarke teased as she held up the gift in front of her face, as if referring to its size.

“No, it’s–”

“I know what you meant,” Clarke interrupted as she smiled again, “I was just joking.”

Lexa nodded and swallowed as Clarke went to work untying the bow and tossing the string to the side before untucking the neatly folded ends of the paper as she unwrapped it. A heat Lexa wasn’t expecting rose to her chest and sprinkled her skin with a faint blush as she sat nervously in anticipation of Clarke’s long-awaited reaction. Even more suddenly doubts about the gift came rushing into Lexa’s mind, and she almost had the urge to take the gift from Clarke and hide it away and pretend it had never even been there in the first place. But as Clarke finally unveiled the small pack of paintbrushes, Lexa knew there was no turning back. Their gazes connected, and Lexa couldn’t read Clarke’s expression so she spoke out instead in a desperate attempt to save herself the embarrassment of finding out she had picked out a stupid present.

“I didn’t know...” Lexa started but lost her voice in her throat. “You probably... already have a lot of brushes...”

Clarke said nothing but stood quickly, and Lexa couldn’t help but stand as well. Did Clarke hate the gift so much that she was about to leave? Did the gift offend her in some way? A quick survey of Clarke’s bedroom as she stood awkwardly next to the bed confirmed Lexa’s belief that the other girl did in fact paint, and it wasn’t some kind of imagined hobby Lexa had come up with in her own head. Brightly painted canvasses were littered about the room, standing up against walls and hanging off of them, and the unassembled easel at Lexa’s feet made her roll her eyes as it reminded her that she’d seen it not minutes before. Clarke turned around after having gone through a large black suitcase on her floor and walked the few steps back to Lexa with something vaguely familiar in the hand that wasn’t holding the brush set Lexa had just given to her.

“You won’t believe your timing,” Clarke said as her eyes widened dramatically.

What Clarke held up for Lexa to see was the exact same brush set she’d just opened, only each brush in that soft case was helplessly broken into two splintering pieces right across the middles of each of the handles.

“I was so pissed when I saw that they broke during the flight home,” Clarke explained, and Lexa’s fears instantly washed away. “You do realize you got me the same set?”

“I didn’t really know what I was buying,” Lexa admitted quietly as she shrugged, “but I’m glad you like them.”

“I love them,” Clarke corrected with a smile as she stepped even closer, “thank you.”

Lexa sighed in relief as Clarke’s arms snaked around her waist but not before the blonde had tossed the broken brush set onto the desk just behind her. As Lexa reciprocated the hug by wrapping her arms around Clarke’s shoulders, she almost lost herself to the overwhelming feeling of being held in such a wanton embrace but managed to keep focused just enough to hold herself against the other girl for as long as she'd allow. As they parted slowly, the pace of Lexa's heartbeat increased and she let her hands slip lightly down Clarke's arms so that they were cupping delicate elbows and couldn't stop herself from lowering her gaze onto Clarke's lips so close to her own.  
  
As she slowly inched her face closer to Clarke’s, Lexa felt nervous little butterflies flutter wildly in her chest, and when Clarke showed no signs of resistance or hesitation, Lexa timidly lifted her right hand to cup the soft cheek she’d so longed to touch as she drew their lips even closer together. She paused for a moment and swallowed nervously as Clarke’s eyes softly closed at the anticipation of what was about to happen, and a corresponding surge of confidence ran through her that was strong enough to give that extra _push_ to finally close the gap and brush their lips together.  
  
Lexa was almost shocked at the difference that she'd apparently forgotten of the way their lips pressed together felt so deliciously better than the memory of how their first kiss felt, and Lexa eagerly welcomed the burning heat that had taken residence in her chest the moment their mouths touched. They stood together, connected but unmoving, for what seemed to be all too short of a moment, and their lips pursed against one another's just as Lexa pulled back slowly enough to create a sound as gentle as it was sexy before they rested their foreheads together.  
  
“I’ve been waiting all summer for that,” Clarke said as a smile stretched at the corners of her mouth, “so you better not stop at just one.”  
  
Lexa’s eyes widened, and she drew her head back just an inch so that she could catch Clarke’s gaze. She felt a good deal of her confidence drain at the request, and her nervousness once again took over as she thought about the fact that she'd never kissed anyone more than once in a row. Given that her first and latest kisses had both been from Clarke and several months had spanned them, Lexa couldn't help but feel as if she'd entered into an entirely new territory. Of course she wanted to kiss Clarke again, she'd dreamed about second and third and five-hundredth kisses, but her lack of experience wasn't making the situation any easier. A small and almost unnoticeable flick of the blonde's tongue over her lips was all Lexa needed to snap out of the trap of her own thoughts and lose herself in the moment she was about to share with Clarke instead.  
  
She leaned in, fear be damned, and nearly choked on her own relief at the feeling of Clarke's lips against hers once again. It was softer, warmer, wetter and Lexa was barely able to manage the feeling of Clarke slipping her lips between her own even deeper than the last kiss they'd shared. A slightly louder but just as wonderful sound echoed in their ears as they parted, and Clarke sighed softly before they were connected again as Clarke's hands pulled at Lexa's waist to bring their bodies flush. In a move Lexa didn't even know her brain was capable of telling her body to make in that moment, she brought her other hand to Clarke's other cheek before bringing their mouths together from another angle and gently brushing the tips of their noses together unintentionally.  
  
The moment grew more exciting by the second, and Lexa struggled to keep her mind as clear as possible while the thumping of her heart battled for dominance against the sounds of their kisses as they continued to explore one another slowly, gently, purposefully. Sudden yet oh-so-pleasureable pangs of electricity jolted inside of her chest, growing in intensity as each moment passed and with each lingering kiss until Lexa couldn’t control the soft moan that pushed itself out against Clarke’s lips. She felt the paintbrush set from her that Clarke was evidently still holding flex just a bit harder into her side before Clarke slowly glided her soft, velvety tongue across the fullness of Lexa’s bottom lip.  
  
As if her mouth had a mind of its own, Lexa felt herself immediately responding to the new direction the kiss had taken and ghosted her hands away from Clarke’s cheeks until her fingertips disappeared into curly blonde locks before using the slight advantage to press her own lips harder against Clarke’s but not before opening them in search of more. The second their tongues whispered against each other’s, a spark jolted to Lexa's fingertips and shivered down her spine, leaving the sensation of a thousand tingles in its path.  
  
At split second later, Clarke's bedroom door was being swiftly opened and the figure of a man only one of them knew had suddenly appeared in the doorway. They jumped apart as if the other was on fire, and that hasty move alone was all it took for Jake to catch onto what he had just walked in on. A smirk tugged at his lips as he looked from his flustered daughter to a downright mortified Lexa, and he thought in silence for just a moment about how he wanted to approach the situation.

“So you must be Lexa,” Jake stated in a playfully obvious tone as the smirk never left his face. “I’m Jake, Clarke’s dad.”

“Dad,” Clarke cut in quickly, not wanting her father to embarrass them more than they already were.

“I’m just introducing myself, Clarke,” Jake told his daughter before turning back to Lexa. “I assume that you’ve already met Abby? Unless, that is, that you scaled the side of our house and climbed in through Clarke’s window?”

“Yes,” Lexa choked as her hands began to tremble. “I–I mean... um...”

“Dad,” Clarke interrupted with a warning directed towards her father.

Jake relented slightly and drew his mouth into an even wider smile as he exchanged glances between the girls. Lexa felt the blush that had been burning her cheeks reach the tops of her ears, and she glanced over at Clarke who caught her gaze immediately. She wanted to run, speed out of the house as fast as she possibly could to spare herself from even more embarrassment, but she stood frozen to her spot on Clarke’s floor and picked nervously with the bottom of her shirt with shaky hands.

“What about Abby?” Clarke’s mother asked as she appeared next to her husband from the hallway.

“Oh, we were just introducing ourselves,” Jake said as he moved to give Abby a bit more room beside him, “though I think Clarke was welcoming Lexa just fine on her own before I walked in.”

As Abby’s eyebrows raised in realization and she looked between the girls, the blushes on their faces darkened until Clarke had to clear her throat to bring the conversation back into focus.

“Is there a reason you came up here?” Clarke asked as politely as she could, but the edge of desperation in her voice was not missed by anyone.

“I was going to ask if Lexa was staying for dinner,” Jake replied as he hooked his thumbs into the front pockets of his jeans and grinned anew.

Clarke looked over to Lexa, who caught her gaze but didn’t say anything in return. If she knew the girl but at all, Clarke figured she was probably too embarrassed to form words at that point and took it upon herself to respond to her father.

“I’ll let you know,” Clarke said with a hopeful expression.

Jake simply nodded and took a step back, pulling the door with him until Abby stepped in and pushed it back open with a strong hand and an even stronger look of warning in her eyes before turning around and walking back down the hallway with Jake following behind. Clarke let out a sigh of relief when they both finally disappeared and didn’t let herself even think about the small giggle she thought she heard from the hallway after they left before she turned her attention back to Lexa, who was looking slightly more relieved to be alone as well.

“Sorry,” Clarke offered quietly.

Sure, she was embarrassed that her father had almost caught them kissing but was positive that she didn’t want it to ruin the rest of her evening with Lexa and if that meant putting aside her embarrassment to make Lexa feel better, then that was exactly what Clarke was going to do. She watched in silence as Lexa readjusted her glasses, something that Clarke had always noticed and secretly loved, and took a deep breath before wordlessly nodding a few times.

“So do you want to stay for dinner?” Clarke asked as she stepped towards Lexa once again. “I’ll make sure that they won’t embarrass us any more than they already have.”

“Um, yeah... alright,” Lexa choked out, feeling somewhat relieved knowing that Clarke had been embarrassed by the event but was trying to move past it.

“Great,” Clarke replied as a smile took over her face. “Maybe after dinner you can help me with that?”

Lexa followed Clarke’s gesturing hand down to the easel parts that remained unassembled and splayed across her floor before nodding and letting a gentle smile form on her own lips.

“And maybe after that we can find something else to do,” Clarke whispered against Lexa’s lips just before pressing a light kiss to them.

Lexa’s heart jumped to her throat at the gentle touch of Clarke’s lips on her own and knew, all previous embarrassment aside, that there wasn’t a single place in the world she would rather be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap! I really hope you all enjoyed this one as much as I enjoyed writing it. Originally I'd planned on making "The Days of Our Love" series a tetralogy with each story being 3 chapters long, but I'm so in love with this world that I'm thinking the third story in the series might end up being a multi-chapter fic. We shall see where my muse takes me! I had such fun writing the bit where Lexa unwraps her birthday gifts as well as wrapping up the Aden storyline with a cute and awkward cactus-giving moment ♥ I mean, really, who doesn't love Aden?! And of course I hope that the long awaited Clexa reunion didn't disappoint. Until next time!
> 
> I treasure your comments and always take the time to respond to each of you, so if you feel like sharing something about the story, the current chapter, want to ask a question, or all of the above... you are more than welcome to do that below! Thank you as always for reading.
> 
> (Find me on Twitter @MsDorisDaisy)


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